Ghost Story
by gladrags2012
Summary: Oscar and Carrie start seeing things. What is the ghostly shape they keep seeing and why doesn't Rose see it ? Things take a turn for the worse and soon one of the team is taken and the rest have to fight to get them back.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

Monday morning: Rose, Carrie and Oscar had been assigned to keep watch on the handover of documents by a mole in a criminal investigation. Oscar was using binoculars from a rooftop to monitor any traffic coming into the area where the handover was taking place. Rose and Carrie were on the ground tracking the MI9 agent. They were pretending to be shopping together. Their headphones were tuned into the microphone attached to the MI9 agent handling the drop.

"Honestly, if ever there was a job for Davina," complained Carrie. "My feet are killing me in these shoes. Why couldn't we wear trainers ?"

"Frank wanted 'fashion conscious' not 'olympic athlete'," explained Rose patiently.

"Well, trainers are fashionable !" said Carrie. "Why do women wear these things anyway ? I couldn't run a hundred meters in these things. They're torture."

Oscar's voice broke into her complaining. "Well, I would have offered to wear them Carrie, but they didn't have any in my size," he teased. Suddenly, all business his voice became more urgent, "Possible enemy agent, your 12 o'clock."

Rose lifted her handbag, which was hiding a spy-pod with a scanning device and scanned the area ahead of them. "No weapons recognised," she said quietly.

"Courier on a push-bike. Got him," said Carrie. The courier skidded to a halt next to the MI9 undercover agent who was slouched against a wall wearing a hoodie and nodding to pretend music on his MP3 player. They exchanged a few words and then the courier stuffed the package into the agent's hands. The courier looked around and then sped off back in the direction they had come from. The undercover agent then tucked the parcel under their arm and walked in Rose and Carrie's direction. A black MI9 van pulled out of a side road and stopped outside a shop. The back doors opened and out stepped Chief Agent Stark, wearing a delivery man's overalls. The undercover agent thrust the package into Stark's hands and carried on walking down the road. Stark took the package back into the van and it drove off.

"Mission Complete, stand down. Repeat Mission Complete. All agents stand down," came a voice over their headsets. Rose and Carrie lumped their shopping bags to the agreed meeting point where they met Oscar and several other agents. Another black van arrived and everyone started piling in. Carrie suddenly felt frightened for no reason. She was sure someone was behind her. She spun round but nobody was there. She thought she saw a shadow in a doorway in the corner of her eye, but when she looked directly, there was nobody there. Carrie turned back to the van to find that she was the last one left.

"Coming, coming," she said, jumping into the van. She'd forgotten all about it in a couple of minutes of banter in the van.

Wednesday afternoon: Oscar and Rose were sitting in HQ searching data files for evidence of an international financial scam. Rose was still focussed. Oscar was becoming increasingly bored. Frank had assigned him to help with any translation required. Once he had told Rose the French, German, Russian, Italian and Turkish for the same few words, there wasn't a lot left for him to do, except sift through all the files with Rose looking for unusual activity. He didn't know how Rose could concentrate on this stuff for so long. Frank hadn't even asked Carrie to help with this assignment. She would have gone mental after the first half hour. Rose had been hard at work for four hours now.

"I'm going to make a drink Rose, do you want one ?" Oscar asked.

"Mm ? Oh yeah thanks. Milk no sugar," said Rose, only half paying attention.

Oscar got up from the computer and stretched. He blinked and tried to focus on the end of the room. His rubbed his eyes and walked round the corner to the small kitchen area. The weirdest feeling came over him. He felt the hairs pricking up on the back of his neck and had the feeling that something terrible was about to happen. He was being watched. He twisted round to look behind him. There was nothing there. No wait, there was a faint shape on the other side of the room. It was like a ghost. He shook his head. The figure had disappeared, along with the fear.

He felt embarrassed. What was the matter with him ? Saying nothing to Rose, he carried on making their drinks and returned to help Rose as best he could.

On Friday morning the three agents were sitting in the school canteen, moving food around their plates. Rose had salad as usual. Oscar and Carrie had become bored with salad after a week of it and had gone for the hot food option. "This was a big mistake," said Carrie, poking a miss-shapen lump of batter on her plate. Oscar tried cutting into his with the knife but the knife kept bouncing off.

"It did say 'fish' didn't it ?" he asked. "It's got to be in there somewhere."

"Maybe they're frightened we'll find out what kind of fish it is," suggested Carrie.

"Like what ?" asked Oscar.

"Oh, you know. Like one of those three-headed things from outside nuclear power stations and stuff," said Carrie.

"You've been reading those comic books again, haven't you ?" accused Oscar.

"They're called Manga," corrected Carrie. "Not just comic books, thankyou very much."

Oscar huffed and put down his knife and fork. "Sandwiches next week. Definitely," he said. Then he spun in his chair, "What the … ?" he looked round frantically. Carrie jumped up out of her chair.

"There ! No, where is it ?" she hissed. "It's gone !"

"What ?" asked Rose looking round confused. "What are you two going on about ?"

Oscar looked confused and a little frightened. "Carrie, did you see something ?"

"No, I felt something, but I didn't see anything except a sort of shadow. Did you ?" she asked.

"Something. I'm not sure what. Standing over there," he pointed to the doorway to the kitchen.

"What are you two on about ?" asked Rose. "There's nothing anywhere."

Oscar and Carrie looked round one more time and then sat and turned to one another. "Did you feel it ?' asked Oscar.

"Yeah, like something really horrible was going to happen. That's the second time," said Carrie, rubbing her arms as if she was cold.

"You too ! I had the same thing on Wednesday, down in HQ," whispered Oscar. "It's so weird !"

"What exactly happened ?" asked Rose, curiously.

Oscar and Carrie both looked really reluctant to talk.

"Go on, I don't bite," encouraged Rose.

"Well, I got a feeling like something really terrible was going to happen," explained Oscar. "The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and then I saw this person, standing watching me, just in the corner of my eye."

"Pretty much the same," said Carrie, "Only, not really a person. It's more like a funny shadow."

"Hm, sounds like a temporal lobe seizure," suggested Rose.

"A what ?" asked Carrie. "Some kind of brain thing ? You mean we're going nuts ?"

"No, that's very unlikely," said Rose. "Especially not both of you at once. There must have been some kind of external influence. We need to speak to Frank."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

"_Hm, sounds like a temporal lobe seizure," suggested Rose. _

"_A what ?" asked Carrie. "Some kind of brain thing ? You mean we're going nuts ?"_

"_No, that's very unlikely," said Rose. "Especially not both of you at once. There must have been some kind of external influence. We need to speak to Frank."_

Down in HQ, Carrie and Oscar had to repeat what had happened. Frank was interested in the types of shape each of them had seen. He asked them to wait while he contacted the medical branch of MI9. On his return he had a frown on his face.

"It looks like Rose is right. All the symptoms you describe match with a temporal lobe seizure," he explained. "It's not a dangerous type of seizure, merely unpleasant. Subjects get an intense feeling that something terrible is about to happen and they see an amorphous misty shape. The brain tries to apply meaning to the shape and it is interpreted in different ways according to the culture of the person experiencing the seizure. Americans see aliens, French people see the Old Grey Hag who is a portent of death, and British people tend to see a ghost. I've discussed it with one of the doctors and it is quite hard to induce a temporal lobe seizure. You would both have to have been affected by a massive electro-magnetic field of some sort.

"Why wasn't Rose affected then ?" asked Oscar.

"Different people are susceptible to different degrees," explained Frank. "Rose is clearly not susceptible. Hence Oscar was affected, but not Rose and then Carrie was affected but again Rose wasn't."

"I didn't see anyone else in the canteen acting strangely though," said Carrie. "Surely it wouldn't just be us would it ?" she asked.

"Now that is odd," agreed Frank. "There must be some way in which you three were being targetted. Rose, I need your help in setting up a detector for any kind of electro-magnetic field. I want a mobile one for each of you three and one for HQ. We need to get to work immediately."

Oscar and Carrie weren't needed, so had to return to afternoon classes. Oscar had a French test which he breezed through as usual. He inserted a few deliberate mistakes so as not to draw attention to himself, but he still finished ahead of everyone else in the class. He sat staring out of the window. It was a grey, overcast day. He guessed it would be raining later. Hopefully he would get home before it started because he'd forgotten to bring a waterproof.

Carrie was sitting in geography, wondering why anyone needed to know about oxbow lakes. She'd never seen one in London and since they took donkey's years to be formed it wasn't like she was suddenly going to find one appear in front of her on the way home. Find one, walk round it. Sorted. She stared out of the window at the lowering grey clouds. Looked like it was going to rain later. Lucky she'd brought an umbrella.

By the time the final bell rang, Frank hadn't contacted either of them. Carrie met Oscar by the lockers, collecting his stuff. "You doing anything this weekend ?" she asked him.

Normally, he said no, but this time she was surprised when he said yes. "Illya and I are going to see the new Bond film," smiled Oscar. He grinned widely, obviously delighted.

"Wow, I mean, that's great !" said Carrie, stunned. "Isn't that a bit like the day job ?" she asked teasingly.

"Come off it. It's so unrealistic," laughed Oscar. He didn't care whether it was any good or not. He had never left the house on an evening to do anything except attend an assignment. Going out on a Saturday night was something he had simply never been allowed to do. He was ridiculously excited.

"Well, I hope you enjoy the film. I'm off to a gymnastics competition on Sunday," said Carrie.

"Good luck then," said Oscar. "You'll be terrific."

"Thanks, see you Monday," said Carrie setting off for home.

Oscar set off in the direction of his house. He'd been living with his guardian, Simon for nearly two years now. He'd hated it at first and didn't really want to get to know yet another guardian. He had had so many. It was painful every time he had to leave again and he couldn't face getting close to someone else. Eventually Simon had given up trying to bond with Oscar and the two lived separate lives in the same house.

Everything had changed when he met Illya on an assignment. Frank had discovered Oscar had been living on his own for two weeks because Simon was away on a mission. Oscar had been struggling to cope with his everyday responsibilities on top of his spying work, so Frank had arranged for a housekeeper to stay at the house and for Illya to come and live in the same house. Since Aggie Madison had been cooking for everyone and looking after the two teenagers, Oscar had become much more relaxed and had got to know Simon a lot better. The two now got along well. Having Illya as a friend who was also a spy was perfect for Oscar. He had someone his own age to talk to and share experiences. He wasn't so lonely any more. Instead of feeling isolated and unwanted, he felt part of a little community.

He reached home and the door was opened by a grinning Illya. "Hey Oscar, I've already got the tickets for Bond," he said in Russian, letting Oscar in. "I want to see the gadgets and see if they're any better than ours. If they are, I want an upgrade !"

Oscar laughed. "OK, OK. Let me in first will you. I want to see what car he's driving this time. I've heard the Aston Martin is back," he answered in Russian.

"Oh, you and cars," complained Illya. "Why don't you get the tech ? Rose likes the tech," he added.

"Yes, and you like Rose," pointed out Oscar.

"Yeah, well, who wouldn't like a smart, cute girl like that ?" asked Illya.

"All right you two. Enough of the Russian thankyou," said Aggie, leaning out of the kitchen door. "Dinner is in ten minutes. Get yourselves ready !" she instructed.

"Hi Aggie," said Oscar on his way upstairs. Ten minutes later, Oscar, Illya, Simon and Aggie were sitting down to another delicious meal. There was silence for a minute as everyone appreciated the lovely food.

"Aggie, you sure know how to make a mean hotpot," said Simon. "I'm sure I've put on four pounds since you came here."

"That's not my fault," laughed Aggie.

Oscar looked at the others sitting round the kitchen table. It was his family in many ways. He was daring to be happy again. A thought suddenly struck him. "Simon, do you mind us all living in your house ?" he asked.

"No," said Simon. "Well, strictly speaking it isn't my house. It's an MI9 house. I just live here. There's no reason why you can't all live here too. To be honest, I like it how it is now. It's fun," he smiled. "And the food is much better too." The others all laughed.

After dinner, Oscar and Illya helped to clear up and then went up to Oscar's room to chat. Oscar always spoke Russian with Illya to make him feel more at home. It was hard work talking a foreign language all day, so Oscar thought Illya deserved a break. In any case, it was a good way to keep his Russian up to scratch.

"Have you heard anything about your assignment yet ?" Oscar asked. Illya had completed his probationary period after succeeding in an assignment with Rose, Carrie and Oscar. Now he was waiting to hear where he was going to be assigned. Oscar really wanted to know that Illya was going to carry on living at his house. He didn't want to lose his new friend.

"Nothing yet. The Head says she doesn't want to add me to your team. She said she didn't want to upset the dynamic," said Illya, looking at the floor.

"Oh. Well, I hope you get to stay here," said Oscar.

"Me too," said Illya quietly.

Oscar suddenly had an intense feeling of doom. He couldn't describe it any other way. It took his breath away, literally. Illya looked shocked at the expression on his face. Oscar looked absolutely terrified. He was rigid with fear.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

_Oscar had an intense feeling of doom. He couldn't describe it any other way. It took his breath away, literally. Illya looked shocked at the expression on his face. Oscar looked absolutely terrified. He was rigid with fear._

"Oscar, what is the matter ?" asked Illya.

Oscar looked behind him. It was there again. This time it had a face and the face was smiling. The mouth moved and a voice seemed to speak inside his head. "I'm coming to get you Oscar," he was sure it was saying. Then almost instantly, it was gone. Oscar was still shaking.

"You look like you saw a ghost," said Illya.

"I'm not sure if I did," said Oscar, shakily. "Am I going mad ?" he asked, confused. Illya was about to speak when there was a loud beeping noise from down in the hall. A red light started flashing above Oscar's bedroom door.

"Oscar, Illya, I think you'd better come downstairs," shouted Simon from the hall. "Aggie, check the defences," he instructed. "I'm going to see what's going on outside."

Aggie went to the kitchen and opened a panel on the side of the central heating boiler. This revealed a large panel covered in lights and indicators. She quickly ran her finger over all of them. "Everything looks operational," she said.

"What's going on ?" asked Oscar, from the top of the stairs.

"The proximity alarms have gone off. It means there is some kind of suspicious activity going on outside," explained Aggie.

"Does this house have a security system ?" asked Illya, joining Oscar.

"Of course it has," said Aggie. "You didn't think you were sent to live in an ordinary house did you ? With Oscar on SKUL's 'Most Wanted' list ? I don't think so !"

"I'm calling HQ, " said Simon, taking out his mobile. He was in the middle of the call when there was a crash of breaking glass from Oscar's bedroom. "We've got a Code Red," said Simon into the phone. "We're under attack !" Something then crashed against the front door, but it held firm.

"I'm really sorry," said Oscar. "I didn't know you were going to be put in danger because of me."

"Oscar, we're only here because of you," said Aggie laughing. "We're your protection team. Both you and Illya are high risk agents, so you don't live in an ordinary house and you don't live with ordinary people, I can assure you. There's absolutely no way either of you could be placed with a normal family."

Oscar and Illya then spun round as they heard shouting coming from Oscar's room. "They're in the house !" Oscar shouted downstairs. The two boys stood side by side on the landing and took up defensive postures. They didn't have to wait long as two men dressed in black ninja outfits ran out of Oscar's bedroom door.

"Which one is the boy ?" one shouted to the other. "They both look the same."

"Get 'em both," yelled the other. They immediately launched an attack on Oscar and Illya. The two boys stood their ground and each took on one of the two attackers. Simon saw them being attacked from the bottom of the stairs and started running up, two steps at a time.

Suddenly the front door was blown off its hinges, flying inwards and narrowly missing Aggie who had to jump backwards out of the way. She instantly crouched into a fighting stance. Oscar just had a glimpse of Aggie launching herself at two SKUL heavies who rushed through the open doorway, before his attacker landed a punch to the side of his head, knocking him sideways into Illya. The two of them toppled over to one side. Luckily Simon arrived just then and kicked the two ninjas back. This gave the two boys enough time to get up and start fighting again.

"I'll have to help Aggie downstairs," said Simon, slightly breathless. "Keep it up you two !" He ran back downstairs and threw himself at a heavy who was just about to crack Aggie over the head with a garden ornament. The man was catapulted back out of the door, slamming into two other men trying to make their way in. All three collapsed in a heap on the doorstep. It was now raining outside. Simon and Aggie then stood side by side at the bottom of the stairs.

There was a sound of splintering wood as the side door leading into the kitchen burst open. Now there was an overwhelming number of attackers on the ground floor. Simon and Aggie were completely outnumbered. The only thing in their favour was that the narrow hallway and corridor restricted how many attackers could make it through at once. One man bypassed the two overloaded agents and leapt over the bannister. Aggie noticed and shouted over the noise, "Oscar, Illya watch out behind you !"

Oscar glanced back and realised the danger. Illya had almost got the better of his man, but Oscar was struggling to land any blows. When the third attacker came up behind, he tried to dodge to the side to let the two men collide. It worked for a second, but then the two turned on him. He couldn't fight them both off. A blow hit his stomach and winded him. While gasping for breath, he took another blow to the face which left him dazed. He was slammed up against the wall and his head pinned back by one man holding his chin. "Which one of you is the Dixon-Halliday boy ?" demanded Oscar's attacker.

"I, I am," gasped Oscar.

"No, it's me !" claimed Illya.

"Illya, no !" cried Oscar. "You don't .." A fist slammed into his head and everything went dark.

As Oscar fell to the floor unconscious, Illya was overwhelmed and his hands and feet tied up with tape. Each boy was thrown over the shoulder of one of the attackers and they were carried downstairs at a run.

"No !" screamed Aggie, still struggling to fight off the attackers downstairs. She and Simon were shoved to one side to allow the kidnappers to run through to the front door. Both boys were carried outside the house in the pouring rain towards a waiting black van. Illya was still vainly struggling against his bonds and shouting.

They were halfway down the front path when there was a screeching of tyres as two MI9 vans and a car raced into the close in front of the house. Agents poured out of the vans and launched themselves at the SKUL attackers. The men carrying Oscar and Illya were forced to stop. Illya was tossed to the side, landing on the grass. The man carrying Oscar just dropped him where he stood, on to the pavement and turned to run back. There was a massive fight between the rival groups of agents. Aggie and Simon ran out of the house, shouting for the two boys. Illya shouted from the grass and they ran to him.

"There, there," shouted Illya, nodding towards Oscar lying on the footpath. They were now both soaked through. Simon set about cutting off the tape binding Illya's legs and wrists. Aggie knelt beside Oscar, feeling for his pulse, ready to ward off any further attacks. Simon and Illya joined Aggie with Oscar, determined to protect the unconscious boy.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

"_There, there," shouted Illya, nodding towards Oscar lying on the footpath. They were now both soaked through. Simon set about cutting off the tape binding Illya's legs and wrists. Aggie knelt beside Oscar, feeling for his pulse, ready to ward off any further attacks. Simon and Illya joined Aggie with Oscar, determined to protect the unconscious boy._

Eventually, the MI9 agents overwhelmed the SKUL attackers. Some of them ran off into the night and managed to escape. The majority were captured and piled into one of the MI9 vans. An MI9 ambulance arrived and a shivering Illya and semi-conscious Oscar were taken away. Illya sat to one side of the ambulance wrapped in blankets. Oscar was lying on a stretcher with a large square dressing taped to his forehead. It covered a cut on his head where he'd hit the pavement when the SKUL agent dropped him.

Half awake, Oscar panicked when he felt himself strapped down. He slowly looked around and saw Illya sitting wrapped in blankets. Illya looked cold and tired. Illya realised Oscar was awake and looking at him curiously. "It's OK Oscar. We are in the ambulance," he explained.

Oscar struggled to speak. His head hurt. "The others, are they OK ?" he finally managed to say.

"Aggie and Simon are fine. They said they will come as soon as things are sorted out at home," said Illya.

The paramedic leaned across Oscar's stretcher at this point and looked at him closely. "Oh, you've decided to join us then ? How are you feeling ?" he asked.

"I'm fine," replied Oscar. He lifted his hand to touch his head. The paramedic caught it and firmly placed it back on his stomach.

"I think you'd better let the doctors have a look at that first," he suggested, smiling. "Nearly there now."

An hour later, Oscar and Illya were propped up in bed, sharing a room in the MI9 hospital. Illya was annoyed because he felt fine apart from a few bruises. The doctors insisted he stay overnight because he had 'exposure'. "They are making me stay here because I got a bit cold and wet," he complained to Oscar. "I would rather go home."

"What home ?" asked Oscar. "They won't ever let us go back there again." He was tired and sore and depressed. The doctors had glued the cut on his forehead together, but insisted he also stay overnight. All he wanted to do was curl up on his own bed and hide.

The door opened and Frank stuck his head round. "Oh good. You're both awake. How are you both feeling ?" he asked, coming into the room.

Illya, sitting up said, "We are OK. When can we go home ?"

Frank smiled at Illya and said, "I'm afraid you can't go back to your old safe house Illya. We are going to have to move you."

This confirmed Oscar's worst fears. He was convinced he was going to lose everyone he cared about again. "It's me. They were trying to take me. Everyone I ever care about gets torn away by my Mum," he whispered with tears in his eyes. He tried but couldn't hold them back.

"No, Oscar, no. It's not going to happen," assured Frank, taking hold of his hand. "It's going to be OK Oscar. You, Illya, Aggie and Simon are going to stay together, if you want to. Do you want to ?" he asked gently. Oscar nodded. "MI9 are looking for another safe house in another location where you can all move," explained Frank. It might take a day or two to prepare, but you can all stay together. "Is that what you want too Illya ?" he asked the other boy.

"Yes. I want to stay with Oscar and Aggie and Simon too," said Illya, nodding furiously. "I liked it there. But I don't know yet, where I am going to work," he said looking uncertain.

"I think the plan is that you will be assigned to a team, but be able to live with your existing house-mates," explained Frank. "You are still too young to live on your own, so the safe house is the best solution for you too." Illya brightened up at this information.

The door opened again and in walked Aggie and Simon. Each of them had a few bruises and cuts, which had been treated. They looked pleased to find both the boys awake. Oscar quickly rubbed the tears off his face. He didn't want the older agents to see him crying. They noticed, but pretended not to. Aggie walked up to Illya, wrapped her arms round him and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. Illya returned the hug, and to her surprise, the kiss as well. "I am glad you are both safe," he said. Aggie looked quite touched.

She turned to Oscar. He was struggling to find the words to say. He was so happy to see them both safe and well. "I, I .." he stammered.

"I know. You don't have to tell us," said Aggie. She gently wrapped her arms round Oscar and also kissed his cheek. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. She could feel him shaking slightly. "Well, we didn't do a very good job of looking after you two did we ?" she asked.

"Yes you did. We are fine," said Illya. Oscar nodded.

Simon leaned against Illya's bed and looked at Frank. "Do we know any more about what they were trying to do ?" he asked the other agent.

"Not much," said Frank. "They were trying to take Oscar, but we don't know why. They couldn't decide which of the boys he was, so decided to take them both. You two do look quite similar, I suppose," he said to Oscar and Illya.

"Illya told them he was me," said Oscar.

Frank looked at Illya and raised his eyebrows. Illya shrugged and said, "Well, I thought it would confuse them. Anyway, Oscar looked like he had just seen a ghost."

Frank instantly turned to Oscar. "Did it happen again Oscar ?" he asked.

"Yes, just before the alarms went off. I had the same terrible feeling, only much stronger than before. The figure talked to me," said Oscar. He shivered at the memory.

"They can't possibly have known where you were !" said Frank, frustrated. "Did you have your spy-pod with you ?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes, it was in my bag," said Oscar.

"I wonder," said Frank, stroking his chin. "Right, hold fast boys. I have an idea where these ghostly apparitions are coming from. Let me work it out with Rose. You two get better and I'll see you soon." They all said their goodbyes and Frank left.

"Where are we going to go ?" asked Illya. "Frank said we will stay together."

"Yes, all being well, we should have another house ready in a day or two," said Simon. "The MI9 agents at the house are packing up your things ready to move them. I'm afraid you can't go back there to do it yourselves. Sorry."

"We thought you'd want to stay together," said Aggie. Oscar and Illya both nodded. " Good," she said. "I've got some new recipes to try out and I need a couple of willing victims, oh I mean, tasters," she said grinning. The boys both smiled in relief.

A nurse came in and asked Aggie and Simon to leave. The boys needed to get some sleep. She lowered their beds, plumped up their pillows and turned out the main light. In the soft glow of an emergency light, Illya looked across at a sleeping Oscar. Why did he always end up getting battered worse than anyone else ? That boy was some kind of trouble magnet. Still, life with Oscar was never boring, he grinned to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

_A nurse came in and asked Aggie and Simon to leave. The boys needed to get some sleep. She lowered their beds, plumped up their pillows and turned out the main light. In the soft glow of an emergency light, Illya looked across at a sleeping Oscar. Why did he always end up getting battered worse than anyone else ? That boy was some kind of trouble magnet. Still, life with Oscar was never boring, he grinned to himself._

Frank didn't want to disturb Rose's weekend, so he got to work on Saturday morning to see if his theory held water. He had got Oscar's spy-pod from the wrecked MI9 house and returned to his basement HQ. He also had all of Oscar's and Illya's possessions. There weren't very many of them so they only filled a suitcase and rucksack each. Some of Oscar's things were wet because his window had been smashed and the rain poured in. He put those out to dry around the lab. There were some photographs and a couple of old postcards from Oscar's father which he took special care of.

Now, to look at the spy-pod. He began by seeing if it had been magnetised at all. He sprinkled iron filings over a tray and then dangled the spy-pod over the tray. It picked up most of the iron filings from about two centimetres away. Something had slightly magnetised the spy-pod. He began checking its memory to see if it had recorded any unusual events during the previous 24 hours. Bingo. The memory for the entire period before Oscar's house had been attacked was wiped clean. There had to have been a serious magnetic disturbance which had erased the memory. Everything after the attack had recorded successfully.

Frank sat at his desk staring at the spy-pod for a while. Someone had created a magnetic field surrounding the spy-pod. They could only do this if they had found a way to isolate its radio signals. This meant that someone had found a way to track MI9 agents using the spy-pods. They had used it to locate Oscar. Frank grabbed his phone and called the Head of MI9 directly. "It's Agent London. Yes, sorry to disturb you on a Saturday. Yes it is serious. You know about the attack on Agent Cole and Agent Gordovski's safe house I assume ? Well, I believe they were tracked using Agent Cole's spy-pod. He reported a couple of curious incidents prior to the attack and similar incidents occurred to Agent Stewart. It looks as if someone has the ability to track down potentially all of the MI9 spy-pods. My guess is they have isolated their radio frequency signature. Yes it is very serious Ma'am. Well I would recommend a total recall of all the spy-pods until we find a way of protecting them from detection. Yes Ma'am, it is a big ask, but until we solve the problem all our agents are at risk."

The Head agreed and said she would organise the recall. She also wanted Frank to liaise with the technical team at HQ to solve the problem as quickly as possible. The loss of the spy-pods would pose a serious problem to operations. Frank agreed and she hung up.

A minute of two later his phone rang. Illya was on the other end. The two boys were being discharged from hospital and Simon had suggested they could stay in the school HQ until their new accommodation was organised. Frank thought this would be a good idea because he already had their things. He arranged to pick them up and bring them back. The school was empty so there was no problem with bringing them in.

Frank found the two boys waiting, still in hospital gowns. Their clothes from the night before were in a bin bag, soaking and dirty. Luckily Frank had remembered to bring them a set of clothes each. Illya was given a clean bill of health. Oscar had a mild concussion and was told to take is easy for a few days.

On the drive back to St. Hopes, Frank explained his theory to the two boys. Oscar looked very relieved to hear that there was a rational explanation for what had happened. Illya was most interested in whether or not Rose would be coming in to work on the spy-pods. Frank looked in the rear view mirror at Illya, raising one eyebrow. It sounded like teenage hormones were kicking in. "I think the entire MI9 technical team will be enough to make a start on the analysis," said Frank, smiling. Illya looked disappointed. Frank decided to change the subject. "I found two tickets for the cinema tonight in your house. Are you two still going to go ?" he asked.

Illya instantly brightened up. Oscar looked uncertain. "I don't want to put anyone else in danger again," said Oscar. "Do you think we should ?" he asked Frank.

"I don't see why not," said Frank, reassuringly. "I've taken your spy-pod away. SKUL don't have any way of tracking you now. Provided you take sensible precautions, I don't see why you shouldn't go. What are you going to see ?"

"The new Bond film," said Illya.

"Oh, I wouldn't mind seeing that myself," said Frank.

"Why don't you come too then ?" said Illya. Oscar nodded too. Frank thought about it.

"OK, if you don't mind, I'll book myself a ticket. Why not ? It'll be just like going to work, only on a good day," he grinned.

Later that evening, Frank drove the two boys to the local cinema. He parked the car down a local side road rather than use the brightly lit car park. It would be better not to be too conspicuous. They were all in a good mood before the film. They got drinks and snacks and settled themselves in. Oscar really enjoyed himself. He couldn't remember when he had last been to see a film in a cinema, or if in fact he ever had. By the end of the film he was quite tired and starting to get a headache. He was looking forward to his bed.

Illya and Frank were chatting happily all the way back to the car. Oscar was a little quieter. As they turned into the narrow dark road where they were parked, Oscar thought he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and felt spooked. "Frank, where exactly did you find those cinema tickets ?" he asked warily.

Frank looked surprised. "Well, on the desk in your bedroom of course, where else ?" he laughed.

"Oh no," said Illya, stopping. "I left them in my bedroom." The three of them looked at each other. "Run !" hissed Illya. They ran, but in two different directions. Frank ran towards the car. Oscar and Illya instinctively ran out towards the brightly lit street. They were too late. Shadowy shapes ran out from the dark lining the street. One hurled himself at Illya's legs, bringing him down in a heap with a grunt. Frank was grabbed by two figures and pushed back against a wall. Only Oscar actually made it to the road out of the darkness. He turned and looked behind him, hearing the other two struggling.

"Frank, Illya, are you alright ?" he shouted. That pause was his mistake. Two men ran out of the side road, grabbed his arms and dragged him back into the cover of darkness. He tried to shout out but a gloved hand clamped firmly over his mouth. Arms held tightly behind his back he was dragged to where Illya and Frank were being held, kneeling on the ground. Oscar was shoved down next to Illya.

"Right," said a voice. "Give me the torch !" Someone yanked Illya's head back by his hair. The man then pointed the torch at Illya's face. "Blue eyes. Not him." They let go of Illya's head. Oscar was grabbed by the hair and his head pulled back. When the torch shone in his face, the man looked hard and said, "Green eyes. We got him lads. Load him up. The boss is going to be mightily pleased this time." Still on his knees, Oscar was gagged and blindfolded, his hands tied securely behind his back and his ankles tightly bound. Illya and Frank heard the sound of a van door sliding open and then Oscar being thrown in. Frank winced at the bang as Oscar hit the van floor. Then both he and Illya were punched hard in the face and shoved over to the side of the road. Lying there stunned they could do nothing as they heard the sound of the van and two other vehicles being driven away. Frank tried to get a look at the registrations, but in the darkness he couldn't see anything.

"No ! How could I have been such an idiot ?" shouted Frank, dragging himself up and helping Illya to his feet. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called in HQ to tell them of the kidnap. "Come on Illya, we need to get back to base. We've got to track him down as soon as possible."

"Why always Oscar ?" asked Illya. "Don't they have anything else to do ?"

"I think his mother is obsessed with getting Oscar back," said Frank, driving as quickly as he dared. "She's the Grand Master's right hand woman. What she says usually goes."

"But she just keeps on hitting him !" said Illya, frustrated.

"I know. Oscar won't give her what she wants. She thinks she can make him. He'll never go with her willingly, so I'm afraid of what she will do when she finally realises that," said Frank.

"She wouldn't, you know … would she ?" asked Illya.

"In my experience Illya, that woman is capable of anything," said Frank, grimly.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

"_I know. Oscar won't give her what she wants. She thinks she can make him. He'll never go with her willingly, so I'm afraid of what she will do when she finally realises that," said Frank._

"_She wouldn't, you know … would she ?" asked Illya._

"_In my experience Illya, that woman is capable of anything," said Frank, grimly._

Frank spent a fruitless couple of hours trying to track through CCTV coverage where the SKUL vans might have gone. There was one sighting of the group passing through a nearby traffic crossing but then they disappeared. He was sitting with his elbows on the desk and his head in his hands when Illya came to find him.

"Frank, you should not blame yourself for this," said Illya. "We would have gone without you if you had not come."

"You wouldn't have gone at all if I hadn't turned up with the tickets," said Frank bitterly.

"I think it is best now to have a rest and make a start in the morning," said Illya. "Perhaps you do need to call Rose tomorrow. She has good ideas Frank," suggested Illya.

Frank looked at him and wearily nodded. "You're right. I do need her help. I hope she is available. Carrie is away at a gymnastics competition, so I can't call her. Oh, this is a total disaster !" whispered Frank.

"We will not give up Frank," said Illya confidently. "We will get Oscar back."

"Yes, yes we will," said Frank. He didn't sound his usual confident self though.

Frank and Illya both had a broken night's sleep. Illya was sleeping next to an empty bed. Frank couldn't forget the sound of Oscar hitting the van floor. It was so pointlessly cruel. Eventually he did get some sleep, but woke up feeling as if he'd had none.

First thing in the morning, Frank contacted Rose and explained the situation. She said she would be there as early as she could get away from home.

By the time Rose arrived, Frank had been in contact with HQ to find out whether they had tracked down any unusual SKUL activity which would lead them to Oscar's location. There were a couple of possible leads, but nothing concrete. Rose got Frank to run through everything which had happened since she left him on Friday. She couldn't believe she had missed one failed kidnap attempt and one successful one in just two days.

"Are you alright Illya ?" she asked. "You keep getting mistaken for Oscar. That's not a good thing, believe me."

"Oh, I believe you," said Illya.

"I wish we had managed to finish those field detectors," Rose said. "Although I'm not sure it would have helped to protect Oscar from the kidnap." She thought for a minute. Frank was completely out of inspiration and he was hoping desperately that Rose might come up with an idea.

"Whoever tracked down Oscar's spy-pod to find the safe house, must have sent some kind of electro-magnetic signal, right ?" asked Rose.

"Yes," agreed Frank.

"We have to find the source of that signal," said Rose. "You said the spy-pod was slightly magnetised didn't you ?"

"Yes," said Frank.

"So, it must be magnetised according to the direction of the electro-magnetic field which affected it right ?" she asked.

"Yes, but the direction would depend on the location of the spy-pod, its orientation in the house, the way in which the field was being transmitted... there are so many variables," said Frank. "I don't see how you could work out the direction of transmission. Also, we don't know how far away the transmitter would be."

"Well, it can't be very far away," said Rose. "Otherwise it would have to be hugely powerful."

"That's a point," agreed Frank, looking hopeful for the first time. "It would have to be large and have it's own residual electro-magnetic signature." Frank looked at Rose and grinned. She grinned back.

"Let's go magnet hunting," announced Rose. "Let's start with a half mile radius of the safe house and work out from there," she added. Illya asked if he could help. He was feeling a little left out of things. Frank sat him down in front of one of the computer screens and explained what he wanted him to do. The three of them got busy. The room was silent except for the tapping of keys. It sounded like rain rattling on a roof.

"What is this ?" asked Illya finally. "This is a big spike like you said, yes ?"

The other two swung round in their chairs and peered over Illya's shoulder. "Give me those co-ordinates ?" asked Rose. She carried out the same tests using her computer. "Yes, there's definitely something odd there. We need to find out what is there. It could be normal for that location." She pulled up a mapping application and zoomed in on the co-ordinates they were examining. They all peered closely at the screen, Frank and Illya leaning over Rose's shoulders. "Breathing a little heavily in my ears guys," she complained. They apologised and leaned back again.

"Spooks Nightclub," said Rose. "I can't think why a nightclub would be producing that kind of electro-magnetic signature, can you Frank ?" she asked.

"No, I can't think of a legitimate reason," agreed Frank. He pulled out his phone. "Rose, you're a genius. Thankyou." Unexpectedly, his phone rang.

"Hello, oh hi Aggie. Yes, oh that's good news yes. Erm, I guess you haven't been told have you ?" said Frank into the phone. "No, I'm afraid Oscar was successfully kidnapped on Saturday night. No, it was partly my fault actually. No, we haven't found him. We think we might have just found a lead. I was just going to call the Head. Oh, no, no that's fine. I'm glad you phoned. I didn't realise you hadn't been told. Can you update Simon please ? Yes, thanks Aggie. I will, I promise," he said, closing the call.

"Your new house is ready," Frank told Illya. "Aggie didn't know about Oscar. I suppose I should have told her."

"It's not your job to do everything Frank," said Rose. "There are people to do that kind of thing aren't there ?"

"Well, yes. Best not to assume though," said Frank. "Right, back to business. I'll tell the Head what we've found. You two have a think about how best to handle this. Check out the location a bit more if you can," he instructed.

While Frank was on the phone to the Head, Rose and Illya got to work together on the computers. Illya was getting a little distracted by being so close to Rose. She smelt really nice. He shook his head to try and make himself concentrate better. His friend's life could be at stake here. They used the mapping facility to have a look at the outside of the nightclub building. It didn't look unusual. It did have a very dark, hidden rear entrance. Most of SKUL's activities tended to go on underground, so the chances were that there were basements underneath the building, if it was a SKUL base.

SKUL were creatures of habit. Those habits included kidnapping Oscar, blindfolding everyone, telling them what their evil plan was and always, always working in the half dark. A nightclub sounded like the ideal SKUL location, Rose thought. These people were practically nocturnal. The loud music would probably drown out any screaming too. Ouch. She really wished she hadn't thought that. Move on.

"How about deliveries," asked Illya. "I don't know, maybe pizzas ?" he asked, eyebrows pointing at the ceiling. Rose thought he looked so cute when he did that. Embarrassed, she looked down at her keyboard.

"Brilliant Illya. I can check what parcel deliveries there have been," she suggested. She hacked into the mail service database and tracked what deliveries had recently been made to the nightclub address. They had received a lot of electronic components and other unusual materials. "What else can we look at ?" she said looking at Illya. Illya was looking at her. Their eyes met and for a minute they just stared into each others' eyes.

"Hm ?" asked Illya. "Oh, yes. I don't know," he said, blushing and confused.

"Power consumption !" declared Rose. "Yes, of course. You couldn't make that strength of electro-magnetic field without using a shed-load of electricity." She looked at the records from the electricity company. "Bingo ! Got 'em" she said. "Look how much electricity they've been using. The power company has put a trace on their consumption because they're using so much and in great big spikes. I bet that would cause the supply grid a problem. This has to be the place," she said, smacking her hands down on the desk.

"What was that ?" asked Frank, closing down his phone call.

"This has to be the place," said Rose. "Look at their electricity consumption."

Frank looked at the screen. "You're right. Nobody uses electricity like that. And, they're having these massive spikes at all hours of day and night. No way that these are nightclub opening hours only. There was a huge spike in the early hours of this morning. Well done you two !" said Frank.

"I've spoken to the Head, and she doesn't want to rush in all guns blazing, as it were. We could just get Oscar killed if we do that. We need a plan. The Head is organising a watch on the building. We need to come up with some ideas on how to get in and get Oscar out," said Frank. "Any ideas ?"


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

"_I've spoken to the Head, and she doesn't want to rush in all guns blazing, as it were. We could just get Oscar killed if we do that. We need a plan. The Head is organising a watch on the building. We need to come up with some ideas on how to get in and get Oscar out," said Frank. "Any ideas ?"_

Oscar woke up with a throbbing head, lying on the floor of a van. It was almost boring. It seemed like SKUL only had one solution to everything. Tie Oscar up and chuck him in the back of a van. Did these people have nothing else to do ? Surely there must be some criminal activity which didn't need him to be dragged into it. Unfortunately, being tied up, gagged and blindfolded made it difficult to argue his case. What did they want now ?

Finally the van slowed and stopped. The engine was switched off, but Oscar could still feel vibrations through the floor of the van. There was a jolt and the vibrations stopped. He heard the doors of the van slide open and pairs of hands pulled him out and dumped him on the floor. The ties round his ankles were cut off and he was pulled to his feet. Staggering on numb feet, he was pulled and pushed through a building, then pushed down on to a chair, where his wrists were tied to the arms of the chair and his feet retied.

Oscar sat and waited, and waited. Nothing happened. He was really tired and his head hurt. After a while he started to fall asleep. Each time his head fell forward, he woke up with a start. Wearily he thought that nothing happening was probably better than something happening, considering where he was right now. There was no way Frank was going to find him tonight. They might never find him. Tonight might have been his last night with his friends. At least it had been a good night. The memory of his night at the cinema made him smile.

"I don't see what you have to smile about Oscar !" a sharp voice cut through his thoughts like a saw blade. Reluctantly he lifted his head and turned in the direction of the voice. He heard steps walking towards him and hands working at the back of his head. The gag was removed, but not the blindfold.

"What do you want Mum," he asked, hoarsely. It was Jade Dixon-Halliday, Oscar's Mum.

"Well Oscar. I have a long list of things I want. However, for now I'll make do with you joining SKUL and helping me to bring down MI9," said Jade Dixon-Halliday. He could hear the nasty smile in her voice. He didn't have to see her.

"Mum, there is no way I am ever going to join SKUL," said Oscar wearily. "You aren't going to persuade me, or make me."

"Well, I came in specially to see you," she said tauntingly. "Didn't you miss me ?" She ran her fingers down the side of his face. He could feel her long nails biting a little under his chin. He shuddered.

"Mum I have real friends and a life of my own. Why can't you leave me alone ?" whispered Oscar. He was exhausted. He wished she would just get to the point.

"Oh friends, yes, your dear friends at MI9. You don't actually have any other friends do you ? No real friends," she taunted.

"They are my real friends," hissed Oscar. "I can't have any other friends thanks to you, can I ? You destroy everything I ever have !"

She grabbed his chin in her hand and pulled his head up. This time her nails dug hard into his jaw. He winced. "Oscar, you have no idea. You think you have a life without me. Well I am going to completely destroy your life. By tomorrow evening, there is going to be nothing of it left. You will be mine Oscar. You will join me and you will do whatever I tell you to." She let go of his chin and his head sagged forward a little.

She clicked her fingers. "Get him ready !" she ordered. Many footsteps approached him and he was again untied from the chair and dragged across the room. He was lifted up and laid flat on some kind of bed.

"Check him for any metal objects and remove them," came an instruction in a different voice. Hands ran over his body then his belt, watch and his Dad's signet ring were removed. Someone pushed his sleeve up on his left arm. He tried to move his arm, but his wrist was suddenly strapped down and so was his other wrist, his ankles and hips. One last, wide strap pinned his shoulders down too. The blindfold was taken off and he blinked into a bright light. What felt like two foam pads were pushed up against each side of his head and a band was run over his forehead holding his head in position.

"What are you doing ?" Oscar asked desperately.

"Oscar darling, no need to worry. You've probably already noticed some of our recent experiments. We used our new toy to track you down. It's very versatile. The Doctor here is going to run one final experiment. You see, we've found out that very strong electro-magnetic fields can have astonishing effects on memory. We're going to remove all those memories which are holding you back from me. Friends are only friends if you can remember them Oscar. Soon you aren't going to remember a thing." said Jade. Oscar's blood ran cold.

"No !" he shouted hoarsely.

"Sweet dreams Oscar," said Jade. He felt a needle going into his bare arm and a cold sensation spread up his arm. As the room spun and his eyelids drooped he heard a loud humming noise and the bed he was lying on started to move backwards. Just before his eyes closed he saw a tunnel appearing over his head and the humming noise getting louder. Then nothing.

Oscar woke in bed. Sunlight was shining through the window. He felt quite dizzy and light headed. There was a glass of water on the table beside his bed. He reached out for it when the door opened and a woman came into the room. He looked at her. She smiled at him. "Hello Oscar, how are you feeling ?" she asked.

"Who are you ?" he asked. She sat down on his bed and stroked his hair. "I'm your Mum Oscar."

Confused, he looked around him. "Where is this ?" he asked. "Why am I here ?"

"You're somewhere safe," assured his Mum. "I'm going to look after you, don't worry," and she helped him to a drink of water. "You had a little accident and bumped your head, but everything is going to be fine now." Oscar reached up and his mother put her arms round him. He clung on to her like his life depended on it. She rested her chin on the top of his head and gently stroked his hair while hugging him close. Anyone who knew Jade Dixon-Halliday would have been astonished at the expression on her face. She radiated a smile of pure happiness. "My little boy again," she whispered. "We've got such a lot to talk about."


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

_Confused, Oscar looked around him. "Where is this ?" he asked. "Why am I here ?"_

"_You're somewhere safe," assured his Mum. "I'm going to look after you, don't worry," and she helped him to a drink of water. "You had a little accident and bumped your head, but everything is going to be fine now." Oscar reached up and his mother put her arms round him. He clung on to her like his life depended on it. She rested her chin on the top of his head and gently stroked his hair while hugging him close. Anyone who knew Jade Dixon-Halliday would have been astonished at the expression on her face. She radiated a smile of pure happiness. "My little boy again," she whispered. "We've got such a lot to talk about."_

As he still had a bit of a headache, Jade suggested Oscar stay in bed for the rest of the day. He decided not to. He didn't want to admit it to her, but he was upset at not being able to remember anything. The worst thing was that he couldn't remember his own mother or what they had done together, ever. Oscar thought that some activity would be a distraction from his own disorientation.

Jade took him down to some kind of staff room. Everyone stood up when she came into the room. "I'm afraid Oscar doesn't remember a thing," she announced cheerily. Oscar thought it was odd how happy she sounded. He wouldn't be pleased if a member of his own family forgot him completely. He wondered if he had any other family. He'd ask her later.

"You will have to remind him how to do everything here. I'm sure I can rely on you all to explain everything properly ?" Jade asked pointedly. Everyone nodded hard and fast. They all seemed very keen to please his mother. Oscar guessed she must be someone important here. He wondered where here was. His mother said she would see him later and kissed him on the cheek before leaving the room.

He looked round at the men in the room. Still standing, they looked at him. Finally, one of them cleared his throat and said, "Erm, well, welcome to SKUL." One of the others dug him in the ribs.

"He means, welcome back to SKUL," the older man grinned. He was missing a few front teeth, had a flat nose and a lot of tattoos.

This sparked Oscar's curiosity. "Oh, did I leave then ?" he asked.

"No !" came a chorus from all the men. They looked at each other and then to the older man. He sighed.

"No son, you didn't leave. The Colonel, that is your Mum, was worried like that you would have forgotten about SKUL after you, you know, hit your head like," he said in a rather confused manner.

"Oh," said Oscar, not really any clearer on what was going on. These men didn't strike him as spectacularly intelligent. They looked more physical than intellectual. "So what is SKUL ?" he asked innocently.

This really seemed to strike everyone dumb. One of them tried to explain. "Well it stands for Super Kriminal Underground, erm," he paused, "erm, something beginning with 'L'" he finished. He looked at the others. They didn't seem to know either.

All the men looked at the older man, wanting him to explain. "Er yeah. SKUL is a top undercover criminal organisation," he smiled at Oscar. "We all work for the Grand Master and your Mum is second in command like," he continued.

Oscar thought about this. He wasn't sure how he felt about being a criminal. He supposed he must have felt OK about it before. His Mum being second in command did explain how everyone was so eager to please her. She seemed a bit to nice to be a criminal though. They were all very polite. It wasn't really how he expected criminals to behave.

"What's your name ?" Oscar asked the older man.

"Me ? Oh, I'm Bill," said the man. He seemed surprised to be asked. Oscar reached out his hand.

"Nice to meet you Bill. Again," Oscar added. "Sorry I've forgotten about you," he apologised. Bill shook his hand and grinned widely. He was missing a lot of teeth, Oscar noticed. He either had a really bad dentist or terrible dental hygiene. Obviously SKUL had not discovered the toothbrush. "So, we doing anything today, criminal-wise ?" he asked. He wasn't sure how to describe what they did. After all, he had no idea what they did.

"Er, yeah, we've got a job on this afternoon," said the man doubtfully. "I'm not sure whether you're supposed to go or not though. I'll have to check with the colonel," he added. "Wait here," he instructed. Bill left for a few minutes and when he came back he was frowning. "You're to come with us," he said. "I'll get one of the lads to kit you out." He turned to one of the younger men and said, "Marty. Take Oscar to stores and get him kitted out for a standard mission. Usual stuff understand ?" he ordered. Marty nodded and led Oscar away.

When Oscar was out of the room, all the men started talking at once. "What the hell is going on ?" asked one.

"He hasn't a clue. Are we supposed to look after him or something. He's a liability !" complained another.

"If anything happens to him, she'll kill us," complained another.

Bill waved his hands at them. "All right, shut up !" he shouted. "Keep your voices down. We've got to keep all this cushtie OK ?" he said. "Look, the Colonel wants us to take him along and make sure the kid doesn't get hurt. He's had spy training, so he must be tougher than he looks. Admittedly he looks pretty wet behind the ears."

"You can say that again. Skinny kid he is," said another man, who looked like a wrestler.

"Yeah, well we ain't got much choice," said Bill. "The colonel says he's coming. Anyone fancy arguing with her ?" he asked. Nobody answered. "No, thought not," said Bill.

Oscar rejoined the other men in another underground room. He was dressed in black trousers and jacket like them. His mother came into the room and started briefing them. They had to raid a safe storage facility near an airport and steal some containers.

"What's in the containers ?" asked Oscar. His mother swung round looking angry to be interrupted. Oscar held his breath in shock at the expression on his mother's place. She looked furious. She looked into his face, paused and then smiled. "You don't need to know that," she said, through clenched teeth. "Your job is to get the containers." She swung back round to the map on the wall. The rest of the briefing was about how they were to get into the storage facility and what to look for. They were then dismissed and she swiftly left the room.

Oscar let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. He noticed that the other men were snatching glances at him. Bill came up to him. "Word of advice Oscar," he leaned in confidentially. "It's not a good idea to interrupt the Colonel when she's briefing. You might have noticed ?" he asked.

"Yeah, I noticed," said Oscar. "I didn't know."

"No, well you wouldn't," said Bill. "Tell you what son. You stick close to me and we'll all get through this in one piece, right ?"

"Right," agreed Oscar. He hoped he was trained for this sort of thing. He was beginning to have doubts.

The men were split between two black vans. Oscar wondered how they were going to leave the building. He was surprised when the van he was sitting in started to judder and then felt himself rising up. They must be in some sort of lift. Finally, light flooded into the front of the van and it drove out of a large door and rushed off round the corner. Oscar didn't have any idea where they went since he had no idea where they started from. He guessed that didn't matter.

Eventually they arrived outside some wire fencing. He could hear the roar of jet engines in the distance. This had to the the airport. Two men jumped out of his van and used cutting tools to cut through the fence. They pulled down a section and jumped back in just before the van drove through the cut out section. It was now starting to get dark. They pulled up and everyone was ordered out. The men seemed to know what each of them had to do. Oscar had no idea so stuck close to Bill as he had agreed.

They all crept up to the safe storage building, which didn't have large signs. Oscar asked himself what he should have expected. Big signs saying 'All your top secret stuff stored here !' perhaps ? There was a bang as the door was blown off its hinges and everyone rushed in. He followed close behind Bill. Security men appeared from the building and started to attack them. Some started firing guns at them. Oscar dodged down behind some crates. The SKUL men fired smoke bombs and used weird devices which seemed to make the security men freeze in position. They ran on through the building.

"In here !" shouted Bill. Oscar ran with him into a large storage room with shelves ranged all along its length. "Right, where was it ?" asked Bill, staring at a scrap of paper in his hand. With his attention on the paper, he didn't notice a guard creeping up on him holding a metal bar.

"Look out Bill !" shouted Oscar, throwing himself at the guard. He shot a martial arts blow at the man's chest, ducked to avoid his swinging metal bar and kicked up into the man's stomach. The guard doubled over, winded, and Oscar finished him off with a blow to the back of the head.

Bill looked surprised. "Didn't know you could do that," he said mildly.

"Neither did I," said Oscar. The two grinned at one another.

"Good effort," said Bill.

"Thanks," said Oscar.

"Right, come on son. We've got to find this crate or your Mum'll have our guts for garters," said Bill to Oscar. The two of them tracked down the crates. When the other men joined them, they all helped drag the heavy containers out of the building to the waiting vans. The crates were loaded, the team counted into the vans and then they roared off out of the site.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

"_Right, come on son. We've got to find this crate or your Mum'll have our guts for garters," said Bill to Oscar. The two of them tracked down the crates. When the other men joined them, they all helped drag the heavy containers out of the building to the waiting vans. The crates were loaded, the team counted into the vans and then they roared off out of the site. _

On Monday morning at St Hopes HQ Frank was sitting with Carrie, Rose and Illya going through the footage filmed at the nightclub and a safe storage facility at a big London airport on the Sunday afternoon.

"It's definitely the same vans," said Rose. "The number plates have changed during the journey, but the markings on the vans match. They definitely left the night club and carried out that raid."

"That's not what's worrying me," said Frank. "This is what's worrying me." He played the footage from the safe storage site's security cameras. SKUL had made no attempt to disable the cameras. Part way through the robbery, Carrie, Rose and Illya gasped.

"No way !" exclaimed Carrie. "It can't be him. He wouldn't !"

"I'm afraid it is Oscar," said Frank, biting his forefinger.

"He looks kind of lost," said Rose, "As if he doesn't know what he is supposed to be doing."

"Well, he certainly knew what he was doing there !" said Carrie as they watched Oscar flooring the security guard who had been attacking one of the SKUL agents. The man seemed to be congratulating Oscar and there was no indication that Oscar was being forced to do anything. "They must have brainwashed him. There's no way Oscar would willingly join SKUL." She looked round at the others. "Well, would he ?"

"No, he wouldn't Carrie. He hates them for what they've done to his family and his life," said Frank quietly. "I'm not sure how MI9 is going to deal with this though."

"You mean, how Stark is going to deal with it ?" asked Rose.

"Unfortunately, I know exactly how Stark wants to deal with it," said Frank. "As far as he's concerned, Oscar has finally reverted to family type and gone over to SKUL. He wants to attack the nightclub SKUL base and get Oscar before he hands over any MI9 secrets to SKUL."

"What do you mean by 'get Oscar'," asked Rose. "He's not going to hurt Oscar is he ?"

"I hope he means 'get him back'," said Frank, "but to be honest, I don't really know what he has in mind. He wouldn't be upset if Oscar was hurt."

"We can't let him hurt Oscar," said Carrie. "Hasn't he been through enough already ? We've got to get to him before Stark does. When is Stark planning to attack ?"

"There is a big 80's night disco planned at the nightclub on Wednesday evening," said Frank. "Stark's going to make his move then."

"Is there anything else going on ?" asked Carrie.

"There's an indie music night tonight," said Frank. "Stark thought it would be easier for the MI9 agents to blend into the 80's night disco than the indie night." He looked at the team. "How Emo are you feeling today ?"

"Oh, I could get pretty Emo," said Rose. Carrie nodded.

Illya looked confused. "Why do we have to go as emus ?" he asked. "Do you have emu discos here ?" Even Frank couldn't help laughing himself silly. Once he'd stopped giggling he managed to explain as much as he could about Emo to Illya. Illya didn't seem much happier once it was explained.

"Tell you what Illya, we'll introduce you to Avril," laughed Carrie. "She'll explain it to you. We could pick up a few style tips while we're at it."

"Are you going to come Frank ?" asked Rose.

Frank cleared his throat. "Erm, I think I would have a little difficulty blending in. You three have a much better chance. Why don't you go and get some style tips from Avril ? I'll sort out the gadgets for tonight."

The three went upstairs to the school. It was lunch time. Illya had been given a temporary cover as a foreign language student on an exchange. Nobody had thought to ask when someone was going to Russia from St Hopes in exchange. They chose something to eat and then went to sit with Avril. She was eating the salad.

"Hi Avril, how's it going ?" asked Carrie. "You've met Illya haven't you ?"

"Yes, briefly," said Avril. "You spend a lot of time with Oscar don't you ?" she asked. She sounded a little jealous.

This didn't surprise Illya who had soon realised that Avril had a huge crush on Oscar. "Yes, I am staying at Oscar's house." he explained.

"Oh, where is that exactly ?" asked Avril, trying not to look too interested.

"Oh, I forget what the address is, sorry," smiled Illya. Avril thought he had a nice smile. Nearly as nice as Oscar's. She was still smiling at Illya. Illya glanced across at Carrie, with a 'rescue me' look on his face.

"Avril, we were wondering if you could explain Emo style to Illya for us. We aren't very good at explaining it and Illya was interested to find out about it," said Carrie. She looked across at Illya and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh really ?" said Avril, chin resting on her hand and gazing at Illya with new devotion.

"Yes, I wondered what it was about," said Illya. "Please," he added.

Avril filled him in at length about Emo style. It took the whole lunch break. Illya found he didn't have to say much. He just had to nod and look interested. In fact it was quite interesting. A little over-sensitive for his taste, but he could see the point. Even if he didn't go for it himself, he had to admire Avril's sincerity. But boy was she persistent. He could see why Oscar was a little scared of her. This girl could seriously undermine your cover.

The bell for lessons rang and they all had to split up for classes. Illya and the others thanked Avril for her help and went on their way.

"I think you have a new admirer Illya," teased Rose.

Illya looked at her a little worried. He really liked Rose. He liked Avril too, but not like he liked Rose. Also, he could tell Rose things he could never tell Avril. Ordinary girlfriends were not possible for him, or Oscar. Oscar was such a trouble magnet, nobody was safe with him. He knew that Oscar would never put anyone else at risk whatever the cost to him personally. Avril had no chance of getting together with Oscar.

"I'm only teasing you !" she laughed. He smiled in relief.

"So, we need to see if Frank has any Emo gear in the basement," said Carrie. She looked at Rose. "This I have to see !"


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

"_So, we need to see if Frank has any Emo gear in the basement," said Carrie. She looked at Rose. "This I have to see !"_

Oscar found the bedroom where he'd woken up. He searched around to see if he had any nightclothes there. He couldn't find anything. Sitting on the side table there was now a belt, a watch and a signet ring with a green stone. He didn't recognise any of them. He tried on the ring and it fitted. He kept it on. Oscar sat on his bed and tried hard to remember something. Anything would do. He spun the ring round on his finger. Suddenly there was a hint of something. The more Oscar tried to chase it, the further it seemed to get from his grasp. He stared at the ring. The ring was important he realised, but he couldn't remember why.

Suddenly the door opened. Oscar started. It was his Mum. "Oh it's you Mum," he said. "You gave me a fright."

Jade smiled until she noticed him playing with the ring. "Where did you get that ?" she asked sharply.

Confused by her apparent anger, Oscar said, "I found it on the table. Isn't it mine ?"

Calming slightly, Jade said reluctantly, "It was your father's."

"Oh, where is he ?" asked Oscar hopefully.

"He died," said his Mum. "Missing in action. He gave you that ring before he went." She looked up and saw the expression of devastation on Oscar's face. Perhaps she could have handled that a little better.

"He's dead," said Oscar. "Is there anyone else ?" he asked, his voice getting quieter.

"No, it's just you and me Oscar," said Jade. She didn't really feel like going through all this right now. It had been a long day. "Do you need anything Oscar ?" she asked.

"Well, I don't seem to have any clothes, or a toothbrush or anything really," said Oscar, looking puzzled. He seemed a bit dazed. Jade decided he must be tired too.

"Oh, your things aren't here," she said. "We brought you here after you were hurt. I think all your things were lost. I'll ask someone to bring you some things. Goodnight." With that she left.

It wasn't quite the reunion Oscar had been hoping for. He was still sitting on the bed trying to get his head round the fact that he had nobody in the world except his mother, when there was a knock at the door. At least someone knocked around here. He opened the door to find Bill holding a pile of clothes and toiletries.

"Your Mum said you needed these," Bill said. "You alright ?" he asked. "You look a bit shocked, like."

"I'm OK," said Oscar quietly. He sat down on the bed staring at the pile of clothes. They were all black.

Bill looked doubtful. He boy looked like he'd seen a ghost. He didn't like this memory wiping business. The boy didn't seem anything like his mother. Bill liked him for a start. "Well, if you don't want anything else, I'll go. You know there's a bathroom there don't you ?" asked Bill, pointing at a door in the corner of the room. Oscar looked up and shook his head. "Right, well there is see," said Bill. He stood looking at Oscar for a moment. The boy seemed lost in his own thoughts. "I'll be off then, if you don't need anything."

Oscar looked him in the eyes and shook his head again. His face looked completely blank.

Oscar gave up trying to remember anything. He washed, changed and got into bed. His head was now throbbing after the day's activities. Maybe he would remember something in the morning.

Oscar woke the next day, still feeling tired. He managed to find the room where he'd originally met the others and found them all eating breakfast, so he joined them. He'd just finished when names were called out for an assignment. Oscar's was one of the names being called, so he followed the others to a briefing room. The job was to steal a set of electronic components from a factory. He wondered if it wouldn't be simpler and possibly cheaper to just buy them. Clearly that was not the SKUL way.

The plan started to unravel when they couldn't find the factory. It was in the middle of a large industrial estate and they had circled the area twice without finding the right building. The driver stopped to have an argument with the guy in the passenger seat. "Look, what idiot put the post code into the satnav then, 'cos it wasn't me right ?" said the driver. "I'm driving. You're supposed to be looking aint you ?"

"All right, all right, keep you hair on !" complained the second guy. "I don't know what the place looks like either do I ?"

Oscar decided to offer a suggestion. "Erm, sorry to interrupt guys, but couldn't we just ask someone ?" he asked. They both looked round at him as if he had suggested flying to the moon.

"Ask someone ?" asked the driver astonished.

"Yes, why not ?" asked Oscar. "You've only got to ask nicely."

"Nicely ?" said the driver. He looked at his front seat passenger. They other guy shrugged. They both looked at Oscar frowning.

"Look, never mind," said Oscar. "I'll do it." He got out of the van and walked up to a man walking down the street eating a sandwich. "Excuse me, you couldn't tell me where I can find Paint Pot Prototypes could you please ?"

"Yeah sure," said the man after swallowing a mouthful. "Down there and on the left," he pointed down the road.

"Ah, we went past it. Thanks very much," said Oscar.

"No problem," said the man, walking on.

Oscar got back in the van and told the driver where to go. The men looked astonished. "Well done son," said Bill. They pulled up the van at a loading bay at the back of the factory and piled out.

Tugging down his uniform, the co-driver plucked up courage and approached a warehouse worker piling up boxes. "Erm excuse me mate, could you tell me where I can find the electromagnetic control circuits please ?"

"Yeah, sure inside the storeroom on the left hand side, but you'll have to .." he stopped, because the SKUL man had just punched him in the face.

"What did you do that for ?" asked Oscar.

"That's what I always do," said the man, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Oscar rolled his eyes and lead the way into the factory where they'd been directed.

It took a little while to locate the circuits. They filled a couple of boxes with the circuits after tying up the store keeper in his office. One of the SKUL men had been about to hit the store keeper over the head with a spanner, but Oscar pushed him away and persuaded the man to sit quietly so that he wouldn't get hurt. Bill tied the man up while the others loaded the boxes.

On their return, some of the SKUL agents told the others about their astonishing new technique of 'asking nicely'. Oscar overheard some of it and had to smile. "You're starting to get a reputation for yourself boy," said Bill smiling. "You'll be working your way up the ranks in no time." He was glad to see the boy looking a bit happier.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski. OK, MI9 goes Emo. Well, barely. Sorry it's slower to update this story. Seems harder to write it for some reason.

_On their return, some of the SKUL agents told the others about their astonishing new technique of 'asking nicely'. Oscar overheard some of it and had to smile. "You're starting to get a reputation for yourself boy," said Bill smiling. "You'll be working your way up the ranks in no time." He was glad to see the boy looking a bit happier._

Carrie and Rose admired themselves in the mirror down in their basement HQ. "What do you think of the hair then ?" asked Carrie. She had styled it so it was standing straight up.

"Looks quite scary," commented Rose. "Not entirely sure it's emo though. Maybe a bit too punk. What do you think of my outfit ?" she asked.

Carrie looked her up and down. They were both wearing black outfits. Rose had gone for a sort of moody Twilight look, complete with long loose hair, half of which hung over her face, black lipstick and a black velvet choker. "You don't think we're overdoing the whole black vibe do you ?" asked Carrie.

"Going by what Avril was saying, I don't think you can overdo the whole black vibe," laughed Rose. "And, it's quite handy that we're still officially in uniform," she added, looking pleased.

"Woh ! You really need to ease off on the whole 'lose your identity at work' strategy Rose," said Carrie.

Rose looked a bit annoyed. "Well, I'm only saying," she complained.

Illya walked in looking sheepish. Rose had to smother a smile. Illya really did not look right in Goth. He was dressed in a tight T-shirt, black jeans and had a tight black hoodie over the top, but it only made his blond hair look blonder. He brightened up when he saw Rose. "You look good," he said, looking her up and down appreciatively.

Carrie tried to sound annoyed, "Hey, what about me then ?"

Illya jumped and looked at her too. "Hm, you look quite scary," he said, smiling.

"You need something for your hair," said Carrie.

"No way I am putting it like that !" said Illya pointing at Carrie's spiky hair.

"Don't panic !" laughed Carrie. "What about a hat ?" She rummaged around in a crate full of accessories and pulled out a black top hat. "Try this !" she ordered.

Illya put on the hat. It didn't fit too badly and actually suited him really well.

"Hey, cool look," admired Rose. This seemed to lift Illya's mood back to his usual cheerful self.

"OK. Let us go to kick bottoms !" announced Illya.

"Yeah, let's do that thing," laughed Carrie.

Back at the SKUL base Oscar was sitting around wondering what to do with himself. Bill came past and Oscar called him over. "Bill, do I go to school ?" he asked. "Actually, what age am I ?" he added. Bill looked a bit uncomfortable and didn't seem to want to answer the questions. Oscar couldn't see why. They were perfectly simple questions weren't they ?

"I think you should ask you mother about stuff like that," answered Bill, finally.

"It's hard," explained Oscar. "I hardly ever see her except when she's working. Then she doesn't want to speak to me, or it's really late and she doesn't want to speak to me. I think she just doesn't want to speak to me." All the while Oscar was turning the ring on his finger round and round.

Bill felt really sorry for the boy. He looked like that ring was the only thing keeping him from going off the rails. "My boy's probably grown up now," he said quietly.

Oscar looked at him, surprised. "You've got a son ?" he asked.

"Yeah, and a daughter too," said Bill. "I haven't seen them in years." He paused, looking sad. "You see, me and their mother split up. I'd been getting into trouble and we'd had to move quickly a couple of times. She got fed up and said it wasn't good for the kids, me being a villain and all."

"I'm sorry," said Oscar. "Don't you see them ?" he asked.

"No, their mother moved away and asked me to stay away from them. She said I would be a bad influence on them. I knew she was right, so I stayed away," said Bill. "They'll be grown up now."

"Why don't you go and see them then, if they're grown up ?" asked Oscar. "They're old enough to decide for themselves if they want to see you," he added.

"Do you think they'll want to see me after all this time ?" asked Bill quietly.

"I know they will," said Oscar firmly. "Believe me, I know they will. Do it Bill. They'll want it."

"Well, I could do. My brother said if I ever wanted a job, I could go and work with him at his garage," said Bill. "He lives quite close to them. I'm getting too old for this lark anyway." Bill stared at the wall for a minute.

"Tell you what son, why don't you come with me to the briefing ? There's work to do tonight in the nightclub. It's 'Indie Night' tonight and we have to keep an eye on all the weirdos who turn up. They're not usually the sort to have a fight, but we can't afford to have any police coming round here so we have to make sure there's no trouble. They didn't ask for you, but I don't see there's any harm in you helping too. It might help take your mind off things like," suggested Bill.

Oscar didn't see that he had much to keep his mind on. There was just a big empty void with little ghosts flickering past. He could never quite get hold of anything. It was as if there was a big memory bank there, but he didn't know what the files were called. He looked up into Bill's old battered face and saw that he was looking a bit concerned. He smiled back at him. "Alright then. Who comes in on 'Indie Night', vampires ?"

Bill laughed. "Looks like it sometimes," he said.

Indie Night turned out to be pretty entertaining. Oscar and the rest of the security detail were fitted out with ear pieces and instructions to look out for any hint of bad behaviour. Anyone caught doing something against the club's regulations was to be kicked out immediately. His mother was nowhere in sight so he decided he might as well do what he wanted. The heaviest of the SKUL heavies were on the door, looking menacing. Oscar thought they were good at looking menacing. Anything that required a look of blank aggression was right up their street. It was early in the evening and the club was still fairly quiet. Bill sauntered over.

"You alright there lad ?" asked Bill. Oscar nodded. "Me old bones are feeling it a bit tonight boy. All that running around is starting to play gip with me hip. Do you mind if I go and sit down for a minute ?"

"No, that's no problem," said Oscar. "I'll let you know if there's any trouble." Bill slapped him on the back and walked over to a row of chairs against the wall. He sat down and folded his arms across his chest and winked at Oscar. Oscar gave him a smile in return. Oscar was glad he at least had Bill to talk to.

The club soon started to fill up and the music got steadily louder. Oscar kept his eyes open for any sign of trouble, listening to the various discussions going on in his ear between the different security staff. It mostly consisted of descriptions of the different girls coming into the club and what they were wearing. One was complaining that the girls on Indie night wore far too many clothes. Oscar thought he sounded a bit creepy. He wouldn't like any girls he knew going anywhere near the guy. He wondered if he knew any girls. Apart from his mother, he hadn't seen any women in SKUL. He was still daydreaming a little about this when one of the clubbers walked up to him. It was a blonde guy, dressed in the usual black with a big top hat on.

"Hey Oscar, how's it going ?" asked the boy.

"Fine thanks, how's it with you ?" replied Oscar. Then he stopped and looked at the boy. They'd both spoken in Russian. How did he know Russian ? Come to that, how did this boy know his name ? Oscar felt confused. "Wait, how do you know my name ?" he asked. "What's your name ?"

The boy looked at him baffled. "I'm Illya of course ! Don't you remember ?" he asked.

Oscar shook his head. "No, nothing," he answered. "Why do I know you ?" he asked.

Illya looked around the room and sort of walked backwards past Oscar as if he wasn't really talking to him and said, "We met on a mission for MI9. You work for MI9 like I do. So do Carrie and Rose. Do you remember Carrie and Rose ?" he said, nodding towards two darker skinned girls standing in the opposite corner. They both smiled at Oscar. They were pretty. He had a fleeting moment when he thought he remembered something, something about family, and then nothing.

"No, I don't remember. I don't remember anything about anything," said Oscar.

"Oy !" came a shout over his earpiece. "Who you talking to Dixon-Halliday ?" the voice asked.

"Oh, nobody," said Oscar, really confused. He looked around and Illya had disappeared into the crowd. He stood looking for Illya, when a couple of SKUL guards came up to him.

"You were talking to somebody in foreign," accused the first guard. Oscar didn't recognise him.

"There was someone, they were asking where the toilets were," said Oscar.

"Took a long time to ask how to get to the toilets," accused the guard again. "What language was it anyway ?"

"Russian," said Oscar.

"How come they knew you spoke Russian then ?" asked the guard. He seemed a bit brighter than the average guard.

"I don't know. How would I know ?" asked Oscar. He saw with relief that Bill was making his way over.

"Something up boys ?" he asked the other guards.

"Some kid was speaking to him in Russian," the guards nodded towards Oscar.

"Oh. Maybe I should take him back downstairs then, just in case," suggested Bill.

"Yeah, good idea," said the guard. He didn't look completely satisfied though. He kept darting suspicious looks at Oscar.

Bill took him through a back entrance, down to the basement HQ. "What was he asking you about, this Russian boy then ?" asked Bill.

"He wanted to know where the toilets were," said Oscar, as casually as he could. He got the feeling that this was something he couldn't even discuss with Bill. What was MI9 ?

"Take your mic and your earpiece out then boy," instructed Bill. Oscar did as he said. Bill surprised him then when he looked around him and turned swiftly to Oscar.

"Look boy, you've got to be really careful OK ?" he said firmly. Oscar nodded, puzzled. "It matters son. You don't talk about this with anyone, especially your mother. If you want to ask any questions, you ask me alright but only when there's nobody around," said Bill. "I don't care if you're desperate to know, you say nothing, got it ?" Oscar nodded. Bill then carried on down the corridor as if nothing had happened. Oscar paused and then followed.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski. Sorry, I had to up the rating when I realised where I was going with the storyline. Thankyou to everyone who has posted a review. This story has been a little more difficult to write. Plus I've been busy.

"_Look boy, you've got to be really careful OK ?" he said firmly. Oscar nodded, puzzled. "It matters son. You don't talk about this with anyone, especially your mother. If you want to ask any questions, you ask me alright but only when there's nobody around," said Bill. "I don't care if you're desperate to know, you say nothing, got it ?" Oscar nodded. Bill then carried on down the corridor as if nothing had happened. Oscar paused and then followed._

Rose and Carrie were watching Oscar through a small camera disguised inside a compact case. The mirror was the screen and it meant they could watch over their shoulders without looking too obvious. They watched Illya speaking to Oscar and his confused response. They held their breaths when the two SKUL guards marched up to Oscar and saw him led away by an older SKUL agent. They tried to see where they went, but they disappeared into the gloom behind the bar area. When they looked back they could see the two SKUL guards searching the room, presumably for Illya.

"Illya !" hissed Rose into her communicator. "Take your hat off, quickly. They're looking for you."

"OK, done it," answered Illya. "I'm coming over."

Rose looked at Carrie. "This is so frustrating. I wish we could use the Spy Pods. It's such hard work having to use so many different gadgets to do everything."

"I don't know. I think this spy camera is pretty nifty," said Carrie, holding the compact case. Illya arrived at this point, holding his hat under his arm. He looked around casually and leaned against the railing next to the two girls, as if he was just chatting them up.

"Oscar doesn't remember anything," he said. "I spoke to him in Russian and he answered in Russian and then looked totally surprised. He asked me who I was. I told him and pointed out you two and he didn't recognised you either. He said he didn't remember anything about anything. I think those guards heard him talking over his security mic and they homed in on us so I disappeared. I don't know what they've done to him, but he doesn't know what's going on. I am sure of it," he went on.

"They must have brainwashed him somehow," said Rose. "I bet it's something to do with those electromagnetic signals we've been picking up."

"He's disappeared again," said Carrie. "What are we going to do now ?"

"I'm calling Frank," said Rose, pulling out her communicator. The others did too. "Frank," said Rose. "We've seen Oscar and Illya has spoken to him. He didn't recognise any of us. We think he's been brainwashed. What are we going to do ?"

"Where is Oscar now ?" asked Frank.

"They took him away when they heard him speaking to Illya," explained Rose. They seem to be suspicious now and they're searching for Illya.

"You could have a problem if they go through the CCTV footage," said Frank, obviously worried. "It might be best for you to pull out and leave this to Stark."

"No way. We've got a chance of getting Oscar," said Carrie. "We can't just walk out now !"

"Its getting too dangerous," said Frank. "Your cover might be blown."

"Well, Illya's might be blown, but they don't know about us," said Rose.

"My cover is not blown !" complained Illya. "They will just be looking for my hat. I will leave it somewhere," and with this he wandered off and put the hat down under a table in a dark corner. He pulled a black woollen beanie out of his pocket and put that on. It completely covered his blond hair and made him look quite different.

"Nice one !" said Carrie. "You look totally different."

Illya smiled. "Now, I am back in the game," he said.

"You're inside a SKUL headquarters," pointed out Frank. "We don't have a plan and they're now suspicious. Things couldn't get much worse."

"Oh no !" hissed Rose.

"What ? What's the matter ?" asked Frank.

"Things just got worse," said Rose. "Avril's here." Carrie and Illya looked round towards the entrance. Sure enough, there was Avril with a couple of her friends. They all quickly turned their backs and crouched over their communicators.

"I never even thought about her coming here !" exclaimed Carrie. "Hang on, I'll get the spy compact out." She took out the spy camera and pretending to look in the mirror, spied on the activity going on behind her back. She saw Avril walking round the dance area to speak to someone on the other side. It was Oscar ! "Oscar's back," said Carrie, "And Avril's seen him."

Oscar had been sitting in the staff room downstairs in the basement. Bill had been keeping a close eye on him, but had been called away to deal with something. Oscar's mind was in turmoil. Why did he know this Russian boy Illya ? He had to find out. He glanced round casually and then got up and left the room. He headed back upstairs, putting his radio earpiece back in, but covering over the mic. He slipped through the back entrance to the club unnoticed. The noise levels had risen even more since he was last there. He looked round for the top hat but couldn't see Illya anywhere. He walked up to the railing round the main dance area and continued searching.

He jumped when a voice at his shoulder called out his name. "Oscar, you weren't at school today. What are you doing here ?" asked a girl. She had long black hair and wore a lot of black eyeliner. She smiled at him.

"Um, I had a day off because I bumped my head," said Oscar. He couldn't think of anything else.

"Oh, everything alright now ?" asked the girl.

"Oh, yeah. Just routine you know," said Oscar. Who was this girl ?

"Hey Avril, who's your friend ?" asked a boy with longish black hair swung over his face.

"This is Oscar. He's in my class at school," explained Avril.

Oscar smiled back at her. Great, she was Avril and he went to school with her. Oscar was realising that his Mum hadn't been telling him quite a lot of things.

"So how was school today ?" asked Oscar. He didn't know what to ask in case he blundered into something he didn't know about, which was just about everything.

Avril looked a little puzzled. "Oh you know, the usual. Mr Flatley drone, drone, drone. Mrs King snap, snap, clickety clack," she said wagging her head from side to side.

For some reason the mention of Mrs King and 'clickety clack' chipped away another piece of the wall surrounding Oscar's memories. A picture popped into his head of a tall dark woman in a tight blue suit wagging her finger at him. "Keeping everyone in line was she ?" asked Oscar.

"Oh yeah, she totally lost it with Scoop this morning," said Avril. "He was supposed to report his geography homework and he tried to do it in a terrible rap. Mrs King was livid. He got double detention."

"Huh. Typical Scoop," said Oscar. He had been so preoccupied with finding out about himself, that he hadn't noticed until now how close Avril was standing. She had sidled up so close they were touching. It made him nervous. Suddenly another memory popped into his head. Avril was chasing him down the corridor demanding that he watch her at football practice. The memory of the embarrassment and panic made him jump back a little.

Avril's friend was looking annoyed. "You coming for a dance or not Avril," he asked.

Avril looked a little disappointed. "Yes, I'm coming. Well, maybe we can have a dance later hm ?" she asked, smiling up at him.

"Oh, sure, yeah," said Oscar, rubbing his forehead. "It's a bit loud isn't it ?" he asked. He was starting to get a headache. Avril was attempting to shout a reply, but was being dragged away by her friend and Oscar couldn't hear her. He decided to get back to the staff room before anyone realised he was missing. Slipping through the crowd he left through the staff door. He had a splitting headache now. With his eyes shut and rubbing his head, he walked into someone. Apologising he stepped back and looked up into his mother's face. His blood ran cold.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

"_Oh, sure, yeah," said Oscar, rubbing his forehead. "It's a bit loud isn't it ?" he asked. He was starting to get a headache. Avril was attempting to shout a reply, but was being dragged away by her friend and Oscar couldn't hear her. He decided to get back to the staff room before anyone realised he was missing. Slipping through the crowd he left through the staff door. He had a splitting headache now. With his eyes shut and rubbing his head, he walked into someone. Apologising he stepped back and looked up into his mother's face. His blood ran cold._

"Who is the Russian boy ?" she asked him coldly.

"Who ?" asked Oscar. She really scared him when she looked like this.

"The boy you were talking to in the nightclub," she said. "You were speaking in Russian."

"Yes. I didn't know I could speak Russian," said Oscar vaguely. He was finding it hard to concentrate. Images and memories kept popping into his head uncontrollably. "Oh, yeah he wanted to know where the toilets were," he added, remembering the lie finally.

"In Russian ? Really ?" asked Jade. "Do you expect me to believe you ?"

"What do you mean ?" asked Oscar, confused.

"You aren't hiding things from me are you Oscar !" said his mother. "I think it's time we had a little chat."

"Oh," said Oscar brightening up. "Are you going to tell me everything that's happened ?"

"No Oscar, you're going to tell me everything that's happened," said his mother. She nodded to someone behind him. He looked around to find the two security men who had first questioned him over Illya coming up behind him. They took an arm each and marched him down the corridor and through the underground complex. Confused and frightened he passed Bill on his way down. He wanted to speak to him, but daren't in case he got Bill into trouble too. He knew he was in trouble, but he didn't really know why. What was MI9 ?

Bill watched Oscar being marched down to the interrogation rooms. The boy looked frightened, but he didn't say a word to Bill when he went past. Bill knew Oscar was trying not to get him into trouble too. "It's not right, what she's doing," muttered a deep voice beside him. He looked round in surprise. It was Alf, one of the huge doormen, holding a cup of tea, having his break. Bill looked around and noticed that there were quite a few SKUL men in the staff room looking unhappy and muttering to each other. They were all the men who had been on missions with Oscar. "She ain't treated him right and now she wonders why he's not doing what she wants. It's not his fault," added Alf. "He's a smart kid. If he doesn't know anything, he's going to want to find out isn't he ?" Bill nodded. "Well, I wish there was something we could do about it, but we can't spring him can we ?" said Alf quietly.

"No we can't. But there might be someone who can," said Bill very quietly. Alf looked at him sharply.

"You mean this Russian boy he was supposed to be talking to in the club ?" asked Alf.

"They have to be MI9," said Bill. "Who else would be in here who knows that Oscar speaks Russian ?" he continued. "Alf, who's doing the final security search tonight ?"

"It's me and Marty," said Alf. "Why ?"

"Well, you could make doubly sure there's nobody left in the ladies toilets at closing time couldn't you ?" said Bill, winking at him.

"Yeah I can make dead sure of that," said Alf winking back at him. "We wouldn't want to leave any security codes lying around neither would we ?"

"No, especially not for the door," said Bill. "Anyone could get in if that was left lying around."

"You leave it to me Bill," said Alf, getting up to return to his duties upstairs. "Why don't you try to get the message across to the necessary parties, if you know what I mean."

"I'll get right on it Alf," said Bill smiling. He felt like he was starting to put things right now. He only hoped it was all going to be in time for Oscar.

Bill walked into the nightclub and started searching the room for likely MI9 agents. The crowd was starting to thin out a bit now that it was getting nearer closing time. He slowly circled the tables round the dance floor, looking round all the time for likely secret agents. They all looked like secret agents. If it wasn't for the pale, pasty faces, he would have trouble seeing any of these kids in the darkened room. As he was looking his foot kicked against something lying on the floor. He bent down to pick it up. It was a top hat. The guards had said something about a kid with a top hat. He quickly looked around and thought he noticed one young lad glance away swiftly. This was going to be tricky. He didn't want to scare the boy away.

Bill put the hat down on a table and sauntered over in the direction of where he'd seen the boy looking at him. He looked around him as if he was still searching the room. When he reached the boy, he stopped and leaned against the railings, casually looking over the dance floor. "I think there's a friend of yours here," he said quietly.

"Why are you telling me ?" asked the boy. He had an obvious foreign accent.

"Because he's in a spot of bother," said Bill, moving his lips as little as possible and staring out over the crowd of dancers.

"His Mum ?" asked another voice. "It's always his Mum !" It was a girl's voice. Bill glanced round and saw that there were two girls standing with the Russian boy. They had their backs to him but were holding up some kind of mirror, looking over their shoulders. Clever.

"Yeah, it's his Mum," said Bill. "I think she's going to interrogate him, and then, well, I don't know what she's going to do then." He paused. "See, the thing is, some of us have got kind of attached to Oscar. I don't want to see him getting hurt any more. Is there just the three of you ?" he asked.

There was a pause and then the boy said, "Yes, just us three."

"Okay," said Bill. "Listen. There's a final search of the club at closing time. The ladies' toilets aren't going to be searched too carefully tonight. Know what I mean ? I need to go before I get spotted."

"What's your name ?" asked one of the girls.

"I'm Bill," said Bill. "Keep it to yourself alright ?"

"We will," smiled the other girl. "Thanks Bill."

"You're very polite you lot aren't you ?" said Bill smiling. "Might see you later."

Bill walked off, still pretending to search the room. He went up to one of the security guards near the bar and started chatting and shaking his head. The other man shrugged his shoulders and talked to him for a minute before Bill finally left the room.

Carrie, Rose and Illya all started talking at once and then stopped. "What are we going to do ?" asked Carrie in the gap. "It could be a trap."

"None of us really thinks that do we ?" asked Rose. The others slowly shook their heads. "I say we've got to go for it. Oscar's in trouble. Stark isn't going to get here in time and it's up to us."

"I agree, but who is going to tell Frank ?" asked Carrie. Rose looked at her. "Let's go to the loo Carrie." Carrie grinned and they set off. "See you later Illya," said Carrie grinning. It was just dawning on Illya that he was going to have to get into the Ladies' toilets somehow. He started blushing just thinking about it.

Rose and Carrie slipped into a toilet cubicle together unnoticed. It was really noisy in the toilets. One girl was crying her eyes out because her boyfriend was dancing with another girl. Her mates were all standing around consoling her and telling her "He's not worth it love. You're worth better than him." Rose was quite glad of the racket for once. She called Frank.

"Frank, we think Oscar's in trouble. His Mum has taken him off for interrogation, whatever that means," said Rose.

"How do you know this Rose ?" asked Frank.

"Here goes !" Rose mouthed at Carrie. "Well, this older SKUL guy came over to us and said he wanted us to help Oscar," said Rose. "He seemed sincere. He said some of the guys here have become friends with Oscar and don't want to see him getting hurt."

"That's pretty thin Rose," said Frank, obviously worried. "This could just be a way of catching you all."

"Well, he could have called the guards over any time to grab us if he wanted to," said Rose. "He didn't. He just told us to hide in the Ladies toilets at the end of the night when the club was being searched. I think he's on the level Frank. Also, I don't think we've got much choice. Stark isn't going to get here in time to help Oscar."

There was a long pause, then Frank said, "Alright, but you have to be really careful. Don't put yourselves in danger and call me immediately if you need backup."

"We will Frank. Thanks," said Rose. "We'll try to keep you updated. Let us know if you see any unusual activity. Especially electrical or electro-magnetic activity OK ?" Frank promised he would and wished them luck.

Rose quickly called Illya. "Illya, Frank has given us the go ahead," said Rose. She looked at her watch. It was only 15 minutes to closing. "Stand outside the Ladies toilet door in five minutes OK ?"

"OK," said Illya. "What .." but Rose cut him off.

Five minutes later, Illya was standing outside the Ladies toilet door as instructed. The door opened a few times as girls went in and out. A few looked at him strangely. He was starting to get embarrassed. Then the door opened and Rose came out. She smiled at him, grabbed his jacket and pulled him up close, then pulled his head down and kissed him full on the lips. Illya was shocked, but delighted. He kissed her back, putting his arms round her waist. To his disappointment she then stopped kissing, looked around and dragged him into the toilets with her. She pulled him into a cubicle with her, shutting the door on the delightedly giggling group of girls outside. "Nice catch girl !" shouted one of them.

Rose looked up at the shocked boy and laughed. "Well, we don't want to disappoint them do we ?" she asked. She grabbed him again and started kissing him. Illya was surprised at first, but happily joined in. He had been longing for a first kiss with Rose, but had never imagined it would be in the girls' toilets. Still, no point wasting a good opportunity. His hands wandered across her body. She might be the geeky girl, but boy did she have a great body too. Happily holding her close and kissing, Illya suddenly remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He stopped.

"Oh, I am sorry. I think I got a bit erm," Illya said.

"Carried away ?" giggled Rose. "You can carry me away any time you like," she whispered.

"Ok, enough already," said Carrie's voice from the next cubicle. "Some of us are starting to feel a little queasy alright ?" she added.

Rose giggled again and looked at her watch. "Nearly time," she said. "Stand on the toilet so they can't see our feet."

Rose and Illya balanced together on the toilet seat. Carrie stood on hers next door. After a short while they heard voices approaching the toilets. They all held their breaths. The door opened and a deep voice called, "Anyone still in here ? No ? Lovely jubbly ! I'll just check 'em Marty. No worries mate."

They heard footsteps crossing the room and stopping at the far end for a minute. Then the footsteps left the room again. "All gone Marty. We can close up now," they heard the voice say as the lights were switched off and the outer door swung shut.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

_They heard footsteps crossing the room and stopping at the far end for a minute. Then the footsteps left the room again. "All gone Marty. We can close up now," they heard the voice say as the lights were switched off and the outer door swung shut. _

Oscar was pushed into a small room in one of the lowest levels of the building. The two guards put him in a chair in the middle of the room which was lit by a single light bulb. "Tie his hands," came a sharp instruction behind him. His hands were quickly tied behind the chair back. "You can wait outside," she told the men. As they closed the door behind them, Jade walked round the chair and stood facing Oscar.

"Well, what a shame. And we were getting on so nicely," she said, smiling. Oscar noticed that she smiled with her mouth, but not with her eyes. "Why did you go back upstairs Oscar ?" asked Jade.

Oscar's lips were dry. "I wanted to know who that boy was," he said. "How did he know I could speak Russian ?"

"Yes, well I would like to know that too Oscar," said Jade. "And what did he tell you ?"

"I couldn't find him," said Oscar.

"Don't lie to me Oscar," said his mother.

"But I'm not lying," protested Oscar. "There was this girl, who asked me why I wasn't at school today."

"What girl ? Tell me !" commanded his mother.

"I don't know who she was. She said her name was Avril. She talked about the teachers and someone called 'Scoop' who got detention," said Oscar, confused. "Why didn't you tell me I was supposed to be at school ?" he asked.

"I'm asking the questions," barked Jade. "Did you recognise this girl ?"

"No, I don't remember seeing her. She said something about a teacher. I sort of remember something, but not really," Oscar was now mumbling. His head was full of confusing images and memories. A scene suddenly flashed into his head of sitting in a classroom painting and Avril sitting beside him talking. His daydream was cut painfully short as he was slapped hard on the face. "Ah !"

"Oscar, I won't tell you again. Answer my questions properly or you are going to find life suddenly very hard. Do you understand me ?" demanded his mother. She was leaning on the arms of his chair, staring angrily into his face.

Oscar looked at his mother in disbelief and horror. What kind of woman was this ? Mothers weren't supposed to hit their children were they ? "No, I don't understand you. Why are you doing this to me ? I thought you were my mother," he said.

"Yes Oscar. I'm your mother and I'm second in command in SKUL. I can't afford to have a son who won't do as he's told," snarled Jade. "Now, tell me what the Russian boy said !" she ordered. Oscar sat looking at her. She saw the look of disappointment and sadness in his face and this made her angrier. Why couldn't he be like her ? Why wouldn't he do as he was told ? She'd taught him a lesson when he was a little boy. Perhaps it was time to give him a reminder.

Jade stood back up and smiled again, which made Oscar shiver. "Do you remember you're afraid of the dark Oscar ?" she asked. Oscar thought about it. Yes, he really didn't like the idea of being in the dark. He nodded slightly. "Oh good. Do you remember why Oscar," asked Jade. He shook his head. "Well Oscar, once upon a time there was this little boy who emptied all of his toys out of the toy chest one morning and wouldn't put them back. Mummy got very cross and decided to teach that little boy a lesson. She picked up that naughty little boy and put him in the toy chest and locked it shut. Then she turned out all the lights and shut the door and left him in there all the rest of the day and all night.

Oscar visibly shivered. "You were never so naughty again Oscar. Since you seem to have forgotten everything, including what this Russian boy told you, I think we need to help you remember. Let's see if we can't jog your memory," said Jade. She left the room and didn't return for some time. When she did, she said nothing, she just tied a blindfold tightly over Oscar's eyes. Still with his hands tied behind his back he was lifted off the chair and pushed by the arms out of the room.

"I can't tell you what I don't know," protested Oscar.

"You haven't yet told me everything you do know Oscar," said Jade. "I'll decide when you're finished."

A short walk later Oscar felt the temperature drop. He was pushed to his knees on the floor and felt something pressing against his waist in front of him. Nobody spoke and he could hear the echoey sound of water dripping somewhere in the room. Suddenly, without warning, hands grasped his shoulders and his head was forced forwards and down. His face plunged into cold water. He struggled to lift his head, but couldn't fight the force of the hands holding him down. He held his breath as long as he could, but before long water started coming into his nose and mouth. The hands pulled him up, coughing and spluttering and gasping for breath before, without warning, shoving him back down into the water. The pain in his chest was becoming unbearable and his vision was starting to mist over when he was pulled up again. Nobody spoke as he was repeatedly pushed under the water and allowed to recover just enough to be forced under again.

Alf came into the staff room after closing up the nightclub. He nodded to Bill before sitting down with a cup of steaming tea. The two sat together silently, both lost deep in their thoughts. "I'm thinking about giving my brother a call," said Bill. "He's got a garage up north see ? He said I could have a job if I wanted one."

Alf nodded. "Sounds like a good idea Bill. I'm getting a bit too old for this lark myself. Not sure what else I can do though."

"How about security ?" suggested Bill. "You're an expert after all."

Alf grinned briefly. "Guess I am an' all," he said. The two fell silent again. They both looked up as Marty came into the room and got himself a hot drink. He looked round the room and came and sat with the two older men. He clasped the drink in both hands and suddenly shivered.

"What's the matter lad ?" asked Alf.

"She's taken him down to the baths," said Marty, so quietly they could hardly hear him.

Alf and Bill stared at him, horrified.

"I don't want to do this any more," whispered Marty.

The door to the staff room opened and Bill was surprised to see the doctor come in. He had a large bruise forming on his face. He saw the group of men sitting in the corner of the room, hesitated, and then came over to them. "What happened to you ?" asked Bill, pulling out a chair for the other man.

The doctor sat down unsteadily. He looked shocked and upset. "The, erm, colonel wasn't happy with something I told her," he said shakily.

"Yeah, she can be like that," agreed Bill. "Marty, why don't you make the doctor here a drink. Tea suit you doctor ?" he asked. The doctor nodded.

"I don't know what to do," he whispered.

"Why don't you tell us what happened ?" asked Bill. "We might be able to help."

The doctor looked unhopeful, but he obviously decided it would help to talk through his problem. Thanking Marty for the drink he'd put in front of him he explained what had happened.

"The Colonel thinks that Oscar's brainwash has been wearing off and demanded to know why. I told her that the memory loss should be permanent provided there had been no brain injury when the procedure took place. She said he might have had a slight concussion and I told her this would have affected the memory wipe. I said she should have waited until the concussion wore off and that's when she hit me. She said that she was the one giving the orders, not me."

"Well, she's not keen on advice see ?" explained Alf, shifting his weight on the wooden chair.

"That wasn't the worst of it though," said the doctor. "She wants me to repeat the procedure. It's not safe ! You can't run a human brain through that strength of electro-magnetic field twice. He could be left brain-damaged. She said that if I didn't do it, she'd kill me. Do you think she would ?" asked the doctor. The others all nodded in silence.

"If you're lucky," said Bill.

"I never dreamt it would come to this," said the doctor. He looked close to tears. "I just wanted to develop the technology. Nobody else was interested. I never wanted to hurt people," he added. The other men looked at him with some sympathy. "What am I going to do ?" he asked desperately.

"What did the Colonel tell you to do ?" asked Bill.

"She told me to get the equipment ready to reprocess Oscar later tonight," said the doctor.

"Well you'd better get on and do it then," said Bill. "Me and the lads will take care of the rest, won't we lads ?" he asked, looking at Alf and Marty. There was a pause and then they both nodded. "We've got to stick together lads if we're all going to get out of this in one piece right ?"

"Right," said Alf, Marty and the doctor.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

"_She told me to get the equipment ready to reprocess Oscar later tonight," said the doctor._

"_Well you'd better get on and do it then," said Bill. "Me and the lads will take care of the rest, won't we lads ?" he asked, looking at Alf and Marty. There was a pause and then they both nodded. "We've got to stick together lads if we're all going to get out of this in one piece right ?"_

"_Right," said Alf, Marty and the doctor._

Carrie stood down from her toilet and peered cautiously round the door or her cubicle. The place was silent and pitch dark. She pulled out a torch and looked round the room. "Come out you two, and stop snogging !" she instructed. Rose and Illya appeared from their cubicle. Carrie walked up to the end of the room where she had heard the security man walk. She played her torch over the wall and saw that someone had written something on the mirrors.

It wasn't easy to read in the torchlight. There was a line of numbers followed by the word 'door' and the next line 'wipe off'.

"What does it say ?" asked Rose, noticing the writing.

"It's a code number then 'door' and 'wipe off'. What does it mean 'wipe off' ?" asked Carrie.

"They mean you must wipe the message off the mirror," explained Illya. "It must be the pass code to get through the security door and they don't want to be caught giving us the number so we have to wipe it off before we go," he added.

"Got it," said Carrie. She rolled up her sleeve and copied the number carefully on to her arm. She showed it to Rose to check. Rose nodded and then they both wiped the message off the mirror using toilet paper. It had been written in liquid soap and took a while to remove.

They checked the coast was clear in the nightclub before venturing out of the toilets. The club was pitch black and they had to use their torches to find their way to the back door used by the staff. Carrie carefully entered the pass code into the keypad beside the door and it quietly clicked open. They pulled the door open carefully and checked behind. There was a dimly lit, empty corridor behind.

Rose took out her communicator and called Frank. "Frank we're in," she whispered.

"Good," said Frank. "There have been some spikes in the electricity usage in the last half hour. It's possible they're running some tests, or trying to track the spy-pods again."

"OK, thanks Frank," said Rose. "I'll call you if we need anything. Bye," she signed off.

"Well, here goes," whispered Carrie. The three agents walked down the corridor, closing the security door behind them. They walked in silence until they reached another corridor cutting across theirs. Illya poked his head round and pulled back sharply when he heard approaching footsteps. He waved the others back and up against the wall. Two men were talking quietly to each other as they walked down the corridor.

"I don't see how we're going to stop her using that machine on the boy again Bill," said a deep voice.

"I'm hoping I've recruited a little help with that one Alf," said a familiar voice. "Oh, glad you could join us," said Bill as he reached the end of the corridor. Illya, Rose and Carrie were still pressed up against the wall, now feeling a little bit silly.

"Hi Bill," said Carrie. "Who's your friend ?" she asked.

"This is Alf," said Bill gesturing to the huge man beside him. "What can I call you three then ?" he asked.

The three of them looked at each other, shrugged and then told him their names. They couldn't see what harm it would do.

"Good, now we need to find somewhere less public where we can have a chat," said Bill. "Come with me." He led them down a couple of corridors past a few doors until Bill finally opened one, turned on the light and gestured them all in. It looked like a store room.

"Right," said Bill. "Hopefully we won't get interrupted here. Now we've got a problem. Your friend Oscar is presently being tortured by his Mum down in the basement." There was a sharp intake of breath from the three agents at this point. "I'm sorry, we can't do anything about that now. It's too risky."

"But we can't just leave him there," protested Carrie, upset.

"We're going to have to love," said Alf. "We don't like it neither, but it's right down deep in the building. She's got the worst pair of SKUL thugs with her and plenty of backup to call on. Our best chance of springing the lad is when they come back up."

"How do you know she's going to bring him back up ?" asked Carrie, still not happy.

"'Cos she told the doctor to get his equipment ready to use again tonight," explained Bill. "She brainwashed him see, and it's not worked properly so she wants to do it again. The doctor says it's not safe to do it a second time, but she'll do it anyway. We've got to stop her and then get him out of the building somehow."

"How are we going to do that ?" asked Carrie.

"Well, that's what we were hoping you could help us with," said Bill. "We've got an idea of how to get him out, but we don't know how to stop that machine."

"Couldn't this doctor just break the machine or something ?" asked Carrie.

"Only if he wants to get killed himself," said Bill. "The Colonel doesn't tolerate failure," he added.

"Anyone who falls foul of the Colonel gets taken down to the baths," said Alf. "Sometimes, they don't come back. Know what I mean ?"

"This machine of hers. It uses a lot of power doesn't it ?" asked Rose.

"Dunno. I guess so," said Bill. "Why, you got an idea ?"

"Yes, but I need you to show me the room where the power comes into the building. You know, where all the fuses are," explained Rose. Bill and Alf looked at one another.

"There's that room by the lift," said Bill to Alf. "There's a lot of wires and stuff in there. It sort of hums when you go past. You know the one I mean ?" Alf frowned.

"I never go down there mate. Marty might know. He helps with some of the technical stuff doesn't he ?" suggested Alf.

"Can you ask this Marty without arousing suspicion ?" asked Rose.

"Oh yeah. He's in with us," said Bill.

"What are you going to do after we get Oscar out ?" asked Illya. "You will be in big trouble here."

"Oh, you're not kidding there mate," said Alf, laughing. "We're going to scarper with you lot. Me, Bill and Marty want out of here. It's just too, well, nasty. If you know what I mean," he added. "Since the Colonel arrived, nobody knows if they put a foot wrong whether they'll end up down the baths. I'm not saying we're little angels, like. We've been villains long enough. It's just that we're not, you know, psychopaths. That woman scares the hell out of me."

"We know. We've met her before. She's made Oscar's life hell," said Carrie.

Illya checked his watch. "So, we need to move if we are to stop this brainwashing yes ?" This galvanised the others into action. Bill went to find Marty to check where the power intake was for the building. Alf and the others worked out a plan of action for rescuing Oscar.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski. More of the mother from hell.

_Illya checked his watch. "So, we need to move if we are to stop this brainwashing yes ?" This galvanised the others into action. Bill went to find Marty to check where the power intake was for the building. Alf and the others worked out a plan of action for rescuing Oscar._

Finally, Oscar came round lying face down on a cold, hard floor. His hands had been untied and the blindfold was gone. Someone was pressing down on his ribcage. Water trickled out of his nose and mouth and he immediately started coughing and choking.

"I'm not sure how much water I've got out of his lungs," said a man's voice. "Don't you have a first-aider ?"

"Really doctor," said Jade's voice. "What organisation do you think you joined, the boy scouts ?" She laughed and the two SKUL thugs joined in with her. "You can go now. Get the machine ready for when I come up," she ordered. The other man left the room.

The two SKUL thugs took Oscar under the arms and dragged him up against the wall where he slumped against it. He was still coughing and gasping for breath. His lungs hurt with every breath and he felt totally exhausted. His mother knelt down in front of him. "Now Oscar, are you going to answer my questions properly or shall we have to start all over again ?" she asked quietly. He whimpered in fear and nodded his head a little.

"Good, well let's start with the conversation you had with the Russian boy shall we ? What exactly did you talk about ?"

Oscar tried to speak and started coughing. His mother looked on impatiently. Finally he managed to wheeze out some words. "He said he was called Illya. He said we both worked for MI9," Oscar managed to say before another fit of coughing up water. "He pointed to some girls called Carrie and Rose and he said I worked with them too. I couldn't remember them," Oscar tailed off. He sat panting for breath, wishing it would all be over soon.

"Is that all Oscar ?" asked his mother. He nodded weakly. "I'm not sure you're telling me everything Oscar," she said, nodding towards the two guards. They grabbed Oscar under the arms and started dragging him back towards the bath.

"No, please," whimpered Oscar. "I don't know anything else. Really I don't. Please Mum," he begged, now in tears.

"Oh, now, don't cry baby," said Jade, cooing. "Are you going to be a good boy now ?" she asked.

Oscar nodded.

"I can't hear you Oscar," said Jade, with some menace in her voice.

"Yes Mum, I'll be good," he whispered. He was defeated. He would agree to anything and he hated himself for it.

"Well, that's better. Let's make it permanent then shall we ?" said Jade. Confused, Oscar wasn't sure what she meant. "Take him up to the doctor," she instructed.

The two guards took one arm each over their shoulders and dragged him, his feet trailing behind, across the room. As they left Oscar got a glimpse of an old fashioned roll-top bath filled nearly to the brim with water, and pools of water all over the floor. He shivered and looked away, overcome by another coughing fit. He was dimly aware that they passed people on the way through the building, but he neither knew nor cared who they were. Nobody spoke. Eventually they entered a room with a large circular machine at one end. A nervous looking man with a big bruise on his face was tinkering with controls and wires. Oscar was pushed into a chair in the middle of the room where his hands were tied behind his back. He sat, slumped forward in the chair, and waited for what was coming next. He didn't care what that might be.

Earlier, Marty had been nervously leading the three agents down to a room at the back of the building. Luckily, at this time of night, it wasn't a busy area and they came across nobody. He stopped outside a door which was marked with a "Danger, Keep Out" sign and a picture of someone being zapped by a bolt of lightning.

"Looks like SKUL stick to the standard health and safety procedures then," joked Rose.

"You've got to be kidding haven't you ?" asked Marty, taking her seriously.

"Come on, lets get inside before anyone sees us," hissed Carrie, looking round them nervously. Creeping round a SKUL base at night was not high on her list of good times to have. Marty tried the door but it was locked.

"Let me try," said Illya, pushing to the front. He pulled a small piece of bent metal from his pocket and started fiddling around with the lock. After a short while there was a click and the door opened slightly.

"Nice one," said Carrie. "I'll be careful what I leave in my locker from now on !" she joked. "Come on !"

They went in and Illya and Rose started to work out how the building was wired up. "It looks like the mains comes in here," said Rose pointing to the fattest cable which came in through the side of the room. "These have to be the safety cut-offs," she pointed to a large box, filled with individual cables and switches. "Now, how do we know which cable is going to feed this electro-magnet upstairs ? Tricky." She looked all round the cabling, but most of it went up through the ceiling.

"There is no way we are going to find the right cable," said Illya. "We are going to have to cut them all off."

"That'll be better anyway, won't it ?" asked Carrie. "The whole building will be in darkness then. We can sneak round as much as we like," she added cheerfully.

"Yes, but we won't be able to see either !" pointed out Rose.

"Oh yeah," said Carrie, disappointed.

"Erm, I might be able to help you with that," said Marty. "We've got night vision goggles in stores. I could get us all a pair if you like."

"Perfect !" said Rose, smiling at him. He blushed and smiled back. He wasn't used to getting compliments.

Illya noticed and felt a little jealous. "What about the lift that Bill told us about ?" he asked. "It will need power if we are going to use it."

"Good point," said Rose. "Where is the vehicle lift compared to this room Marty ?" she asked.

"It's just down there," said Marty, pointing to one of the walls. They all looked and sure enough a couple of the electrical cables went out through that wall.

"OK, they're the ones to avoid then," said Rose. "All we need to do is knock out the power for the rest of the building. Simple." The others looked at her.

"Good," said Carrie. "I'm glad we've cleared that up then." There was a pause. "Rose, how ?"

"Oh, we can just throw the circuit breakers," said Rose.

"Won't someone come down and just throw them back again ?" asked Carrie.

"Good point. OK, we'll have to blow the circuit breakers with some explosive," said Rose. "Unfortunately, I didn't bring any with me. I don't suppose you have explosives in your store rooms do you Marty ?" she asked hopefully.

"Oh yeah. We've lot loads," said Marty. "I don't know which ones you'll need though. Some of them make a pretty big hole."

"You show me, and I'll work it out," suggested Rose, smiling.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

_Don't suppose you have explosives in your store rooms do you Marty ?" Rose asked hopefully._

"_Oh yeah. We've lot loads," said Marty. "I don't know which ones you'll need though. Some of them make a pretty big hole."_

"_You show me, and I'll work it out," suggested Rose, smiling. _

Marty took Rose and Illya to the store room and they went through the explosives and timers to set them off. Rose picked what she wanted, including a remote trigger to set them off. "How many night vision goggles do we need ?" asked Marty.

"Oh, one for all of us, plus your team, plus Oscar," said Rose absentmindedly.

"Does Oscar need some too ?" asked Marty.

"Yes, he hates the dark," said Rose. "He'll be frightened if he can't see."

"OK. That's eight sets then," said Marty, counting them out of the boxes. "Do you need anything else ?"

"Have you got any knockout gas, or smoke bombs ?" asked Rose.

"We've got a few Disenablers," said Marty.

"Are they the things that freeze people for a short time ?" asked Rose.

"Yes, that's them," said Marty.

"Let's have a couple," said Rose. "A couple of smoke bombs might come in useful too. Let's get going. Can you take me and Illya back downstairs please ?"

It took Rose and Illya nearly 15 minutes to set up small explosives on the electrical distribution board and connect all the timers to her remote triggering device. "I hope we do not destroy the lift fuses when these explode," said Illya. "We won't be able to get out. Maybe one of us should stay in here to check."

"No, you can't do that," said Rose. "This will be the first place they come to when the lights go off. We have to get away from here. I think it's better if we stick together."

"All set ?" asked Carrie, who had been keeping lookout. Rose nodded. "OK, let's go and get Oscar then."

"I'll let Bill know we're on our way," said Marty, pulling out a radio.

Bill and Alf were sitting in a nearly empty staff room waiting for Marty's signal. Bill's radio beeped and he nodded to Alf. "Let's get on with it then Alf. Good luck mate."

"You too Bill," said Alf. The two of them set off to the doctor's laboratory. The same two SKUL thugs who had tortured Oscar were posted outside the door. They were now yawning. "Oi, you two had better not let the Colonel catch you like that," said Alf. "Go on hop it. Me and Bill are on duty now." The two men grinned and immediately left. "That was easy !" whispered Alf to Bill when the two were out of earshot.

"Tell people what they want to hear Alf, and they lap it up," grinned Bill. "Hang about, here she comes. Look sharp !" he said, as Jade came round the corner. The two stood to attention as Jade entered the room. She shut the door behind her without even glancing at the two men. They looked at each other and let out the breaths they'd been holding. They both jumped when the door opened and Jade stuck her head out.

"You two, in here ! I need you," she ordered. She still didn't wait to see their faces. The two men looked at each other and shrugged, then went into the lab.

Bill looked around the room. He hadn't ever been in it before. The doctor was messing about with a load of equipment at one side of the room. Oscar sat in a chair in the middle of the room with his hands tied behind his back. His head and torso were soaking wet, and he sat with his head slumped forward. Bill could hear him wheezing and gently coughing. Bill gritted his teeth in anger at the state Oscar was in now. The bright, intelligent boy he'd spoken to before looked like a shadow of his former self. This woman was pure poison.

"Put him on the trolley. Tie his hands down," ordered Jade.

Bill and Alf did as they were told. They untied Oscar's hands and lifted him out of his chair as gently as they could. They practically carried him over to the trolley in front of the huge round machine. They strapped his hands down and stepped away.

"Right, doctor. Wipe his mind again, and make sure you do it properly this time," ordered Jade.

The doctor looked at Bill and Alf questioningly. Bill nodded slightly to him and the doctor turned back to his equipment. Bill crossed his fingers tightly.

Meanwhile, Rose, Illya and Carrie were following Marty back upstairs. "Are they in position ?" whispered Rose.

"They should be. I sent the signal," whispered Marty. Just then Rose's communicator flashed.

"What is it Frank ?" she asked.

"There's a massive electrical surge building up," said Frank. "It's the largest I've seen. I think they must be starting up the electro-magnet."

"Thanks Frank. We're ready for them," said Rose and she closed the communication. She nodded to the others and they all put on their night vision goggles. She took her trigger box and pressed the button. They heard nothing but almost instantly, all the lights in the building went off. They heard distant shouting and complaining coming from round the building. "Come on, take us to the lab Marty," she instructed.

They arrived at the lab, just as Jade burst out shouting. "What is going on. Someone get down to the switch room !" she was yelling. Rose was pulling out a Disenabler when Carrie launched forward alongside Illya and they both kicked Jade in the stomach and chest. She collapsed like a sack of potatoes on the floor, gasping for breath.

"Guys ! That wasn't really necessary," complained Rose.

"Oh it was necessary all right," said Carrie through gritted teeth. Rose sighed and pointed the Disenabler at Jade. She froze in her position on the floor.

"Is that you ?" came Bill's voice from inside the room.

"Yes, it's us," said Illya. "We have some goggles for you. Keep still and we will bring them," he instructed. Illya and Marty handed goggles to Bill, Alf and the doctor. Carrie ran over to the trolley and started unbuckling the straps on Oscar's wrists. He was shaking and coughing. She helped him sit up as the others joined them. Illya slipped the night vision goggles over Oscar's head. "Is that better ?" he asked. Oscar looked at him and nodded.

Oscar looked at them. "Thankyou," he wheezed.

"Oscar, what did she do to you ?" asked Carrie. She'd given him a big hug and realised he was soaking wet.

Oscar started shaking again. "They pushed me under the water. Over and over again," he whispered. "I couldn't take any more. I told them everything Illya said to me," he said, sounding as though he was ready to start crying.

"You didn't tell them about me though did you son ?" asked Bill gently. Oscar shook his head. "That was really brave of you Oscar," said Bill.

Oscar shook his head again. "I forgot," he said, looking sadly at Bill.

He looked so sorrowful that in spite of everything, Bill had to laugh. He gave Oscar a huge hug. "I don't care son. I'm just glad we've got you safe. Let's get out of here !"


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

"_You didn't tell them about me though did you son ?" asked Bill gently. Oscar shook his head. "That was really brave of you Oscar," said Bill._

_Oscar shook his head again. "I forgot," he said, looking sadly at Bill._

_He looked so sorrowful that in spite of everything, Bill had to laugh. He gave Oscar a huge hug. "I don't care son. I'm just glad we've got you safe. Let's get out of here !"_

Bill took Oscar's arm over his shoulder and helped him up on to his feet. Oscar's legs gave way and he sank down. Illya took his other arm and lifted him up on the other side. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Oscar kept repeating.

"It's OK Oscar. You don't have to apologise," said Carrie. He was shivering and she didn't know if it was from the cold, shock or exhaustion. She guessed probably a combination of all three. Alf led the way out, stepping over the still form of Jade. She glared up into the dark, but couldn't make out who they were. They walked silently down the corridor, Carrie and Marty constantly glancing back in case anyone was coming up behind them. They met nobody until they were on one of the lower levels when they walked into a small group of SKUL agents. Alf took out one straight away before they could react, punching him under the chin. The others immediately started kicking out, but were no match for Carrie, Rose, Alf and Marty who could see what they were doing. Soon there was a small pile of SKUL bodies on the floor.

"We could have just used the Disenabler," said Rose.

"That is no fun at all," said Carrie.

"Come on before they come round," hissed Rose.

They tried to speed up, but could go no faster than Oscar could shuffle. He was wheezing really badly now and coughing most of the time. "I think he has water in his lungs still," said the doctor in a worried voice. "He needs medical attention." It was then that they heard shouting behind them.

"Get down to the junction room and sort out the lights," shouted Jade's voice. "Now !" she commanded. They heard the sound of running footsteps. Obviously the Disenabler had worn off.

"Quick, give him to me," said Alf running back to Bill and Illya. He reached round Oscar's body and lifted him up in his arms. "Like I said. Nothing to him," chuckled Alf. Now they all ran. Bill led them down to the basement bay where the vans were kept. Bill opened the door of one and they all piled in. Bill set the lift controls and jumped into the driver's seat. They waited. Nothing happened.

"Oh no, the power must have been tripped on the lift supply," said Rose. "We should have checked on our way past."

"There wasn't time for that love," said Bill.

"Shall I go back ?" asked Illya.

"No son. Way too dangerous," said Bill.

"I'll go," said Marty. Before they could stop him, he jumped out of the van and ran back up the corridor. He was just too late. He reached the corridor to the power room when he saw the glow of torches coming round the opposite corner. He quickly dashed back round the corner so they wouldn't see him. The group went into the power room. He heard Jade's voice giving instructions. Marty crept forward to the edge of the door and peered in.

"Looks like the fuses have exploded," said one of the men.

"They didn't explode you idiot," said Jade. "There are bits of timer devices on the floor. Someone has blown them up."

"Look, they haven't all been blown up," said the first man. "These fuses have just tripped."

"Well don't just stand there. Turn them back on again," shouted Jade.

Marty realised what was about to happen and he turned and ran for his life back to the lift bay. He tore into the room, but the lift had already started working its way up to the doors. He had to jump up and grab hold of the lift platform. Illya jumped out of the van and helped him to pull himself up.

Panting, Marty jumped into the van with the others and said, "They flicked them back on themselves. Jade didn't realise what they were for."

"Good work Marty," said Bill. "I reckon my brother could do with a new trainee in his garage you know. Fancy joining me ?" Marty grinned and nodded.

"Don't make too many plans," said Rose. "We're not out of here yet." As she spoke, the outer doors started to roll up in front of the van which was nearly at the outside ground level. When the door was only half way up they heard shouting below them. Jade had finally worked out what they were doing. The door was just high enough up, when they felt the lift stop and reverse direction, starting to go down. Bill shoved his foot down hard on the throttle and the van shot out of the door, bouncing over the lip of the floor as the lift sank below it. The back wheels bounced even more as the lift continued to sink.

"Wow ! That was close !" shouted Carrie. "Get us out of here Bill, before she gets the other vans out after us."

"My thoughts exactly," shouted Bill, from the driver's seat.

Rose got out her communicator and called Frank. "Frank, we've all got out safely. Oscar needs medical attention. They're going to come after us in a few seconds. Any suggestions where to go ?"

Frank directed her to an address and said, "There's another van. Keys will be in the ignition. Get in and drive off. I'll give you another address." Rose passed on the instructions to Bill who looked a little unsure.

"We're not going to get arrested by MI9 are we ?" he asked.

"We'll make sure you're alright," said Rose.

It took a while to get to the address. They found it and sure enough, there was a van parked in the driveway. They all piled out and Bill opened the doors of the other van. They got in and Bill started it up. He drove out, leaving the SKUL van where it was in the street as he shot off up the road. He looked in the rear view mirror just in time to catch sight of another SKUL van coming up on their first one. "They must have a tracking device in them," said Bill. "They could never have found it so quickly otherwise."

Rose got on her communicator again. "Frank, we did it. We're in the new van. What now ?"

"Are you being followed now ?" asked Frank. Rose shouted through to Bill to ask if they had been spotted. He told her the way looked clear behind them. She told Frank. "It's OK, I've got you on our tracker. You're going to be met. Drive to the riverside by the electricity substation. I'm sending you the coordinates," finished Frank. Rose passed on the instructions to Bill who nodded.

The rendezvous site took some finding, but they managed it. There was an MI9 ambulance waiting as well as a group of cars. Bill stopped the van and they got out. Chief Agent Stark was standing by one of the cars, looking angry. Alf lifted Oscar out of his seat and carried him to the waiting paramedics. Once on a stretcher, they propped him up and put a breathing mask on his face while one of them listened to his chest with a stethoscope. The doctor went up to them.

"He's been repeatedly drowned," he explained. "I tried to get all the water out of his lungs, but I don't really know how to do it," he apologised. Bill squeezed his shoulder.

"There's nothing else you could have done mate. The Colonel wouldn't have let you do anything even if you could," said Bill.

"Who are these people ?" demanded Stark, eyeing up Bill, Alf and Marty in their SKUL uniforms and the doctor with the big bruise on his face.

"They're asylum seekers," said Carrie. "They want to leave SKUL and they helped us to escape."

Stark looked a bit doubtful, but didn't rush to arrest the men. Oscar was now being put into the ambulance. Stark asked the paramedics what was happening. They said he did have water in his lungs and they would take him to the hospital for treatment. They then drove off. Stark turned his attention to the other agents.

"Did you have permission for this little jaunt ?" he demanded.

"You mean, this rescue mission ?" asked Rose. "Yes we did. Frank was in charge," she lied slightly. It was only a teeny weeny little lie.

"I've had to bring my attack on the SKUL base forward," complained Stark. "Thanks to you, we may not catch all of the SKUL agents now."

"If it weren't for our work, you would never have known the base even existed," pointed out Carrie. This shut Stark up, but we walked away looking as if he'd swallowed a wasp.

"Nice one Carrie," Rose whispered in Carrie's ear. Stark impatiently waved them all to get into the cars. Another MI9 agent took the van and drove it away.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from MI High. I do own Aggie Madison and Illya Gordovski.

"_I've had to bring my attack on the SKUL base forward," complained Stark. "Thanks to you, we may not catch all of the SKUL agents now."_

"_If it weren't for our work, you would never have known the base even existed," pointed out Carrie. This shut Stark up, but we walked away looking as if he'd swallowed a wasp._

"_Nice one Carrie," Rose whispered in Carrie's ear. Stark impatiently waved them all to get into the cars. Another MI9 agent took the van and drove it away._

Back at MI9 HQ, Rose, Carrie and Illya were debriefed on the night's mission. Frank introduced himself to Bill, Alf, Marty and the doctor. He suggested they should change out of their SKUL uniforms. "Walking around MI9 HQ could get a little hazardous if you keep wearing your SKUL uniforms," he pointed out. The other men looked at one another and took the clothes they'd been offered. Once changed, Frank talked to them about their plans. He was interested to know about the doctor's work and he suggested he apply for a job with MI9. This cheered the doctor up hugely.

The other three were planning to head off to Bill's brother to get proper jobs. Frank suggested that if they could supply MI9 with any information on SKUL they might be able to help set them up with new identities to help keep them safe from SKUL. They discussed it between them and agreed. Although none of them were very high up in the organisation, Bill and Alf had been there for so long that they knew a lot about its strategies and some locations.

Frank talked it through with the Head and she agreed an amnesty and help for the men if they were able to supply MI9 with information on SKUL. Frank was updating the ex-SKUL men and his team, who had completed their debrief, with the good news when his phone rang. "Oscar has had some physio to get the water out of his lungs. We can have a quick visit if you want ?" he suggested. Everyone nodded, including the SKUL men. "I don't know if they'll let us all in," he said uncertainly. Everyone was adamant though, so he sighed and led them through to the medical facility.

The nurses were not happy about letting them all in to visit Oscar, but made them promise not to stay long or tire him. Oscar was propped up in bed looking exhausted. He still had a breathing mask over his face, but was now breathing easily. He brightened visibly when he saw he had visitors. Carrie got to him first. She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek then Rose did the same.

"Do you remember us yet ?" asked Carrie, half teasing. Oscar nodded once, then lifted his hand slowly to take off the breathing mask. "I don't remember everything yet. There are big holes," he whispered.

He was starting to look upset so Rose quickly cut in, "We'll all help you remember stuff Oscar. I'm sure it will all come back as soon as you are back at home and school again." This seemed to make him happier. Rose put his mask back on and then she and Carrie quietly left.

Illya took Oscar's hand and told him he'd see him back at home soon. As he was leaving Frank took him to one side and said he might have to stay for a little while so he'd arranged a lift home for them all. Illya glanced back at Oscar and then nodded his understanding to Frank.

Finally, all the SKUL men gathered round Oscar's bed. "Well Oscar, you had a pretty short career in SKUL," said Alf jokingly. "I'm not sure you've got it in you to be a hardened criminal. I should seek out other employment son." This made Oscar smile a little. The doctor apologised to him for the trauma he'd been through and Oscar smiled his forgiveness at him. Marty wished him well and then he, Alf and the doctor left. Bill hung back.

"Well, I'm off to my brother's like I said. Do you still think I should go and see my kids then ?" he asked Oscar uncertainly. Oscar nodded vigorously. He slowly pulled his mask off again.

"I would give anything to see my Dad again," he gasped out. Bill quickly put his mask back for him.

"Alright. I'll do it Oscar. I'm not going to get any better advice I don't think. Good luck with everything Oscar. Bye son," said Bill, giving Oscar a quick hug. Oscar waved a hand to him as he left.

Finally, only Frank was left in the room. "Well, I should let you get some sleep, or the nurses will be chasing me out," he said smiling. Oscar reached out and took his hand. He was trying to speak, so Frank pulled his mask down for him.

"They won't turn the light off will they ?" whispered Oscar, clearly anxious.

"I don't think so, but I'll go and make sure if you like," promised Frank, putting the mask back on. Oscar nodded.

Frank went out to speak to the nurses and explained Oscar's anxiety about the dark. They smiled and said that even if they turned off the main light, there was always a night light on in the room. They said he needed to get some rest now and to let him sleep. Frank went back to reassure Oscar about the light and found him staring across the room at nothing.

Frank sat on the chair next to Oscar's bed and took his hand. "It's going to be alright now Oscar. You're safe. Your mother can't get you again." Silent tears started to roll down Oscar's cheeks. He tried to blink them away, but couldn't. Frank took both of Oscar's hands in his and spoke to him quietly and calmly. "Oscar, I want you to know that we're all very proud of you. The others told me about what you mother did and how she forced you to tell her what Illya said. You should not feel in any way ashamed Oscar. She messed with your mind and she tortured you in a truly terrible way. I think you did brilliantly." Oscar looked him in the face. He seemed to be checking that he really meant it. Finally, Frank felt Oscar's grip tighten slightly in thanks. Then slowly the tears slowed and Oscar fell asleep.

Frank gently wiped the tears off Oscar's face with a tissue and then put his arms under the covers and pulled the bedclothes up over his chest. He stood for a few minutes looking at the sleeping boy. Finally he sighed and left the room.

Stark was waiting outside. "Is he alright now ?" asked Stark.

"Physically yes, mentally I think it's going to take a while yet," answered Frank.

Stark pressed his lips together in frustration. "You know I don't approve of using the young agents Frank. It's one thing to ask adults to take these kind of risks, but it's not our job to ruin the lives of young people."

Frank sighed, looking at Stark. "At times like this I can only agree with you. The trouble is Horatio, that Oscar's life was ruined a long time ago. His mother is toxic. At least working for MI9 he has some level of freedom. Without his work he would be moving from one safe house to another with no means of protecting himself. At least he has some skills to take care of himself and friends he can talk to. I don't think there was a better option for Oscar."

"And what about the others ?" asked Stark. "What about Agent Gupta ? She could live a perfectly normal life without the risks of MI9.

"Well, she could live a normal life, but I don't think it would be a fulfilled one," said Frank after some thought. "She's free to be herself without criticism. Her cleverness is valued here and she has resources at her disposal she could only otherwise dream of. Best of all, she has a purpose in life."

"I supposed Agent Gordovski was already an agent, so that leaves only Agent Stewart," said Stark. "I'm sure she would be better off without the danger of MI9."

"That is probably true," said Frank. "I think MI9 would be a much poorer place without her though. She's street smart, her physical skills are second to none and the others need her. She has the mental strength which keeps the team going. The truth is Horatio, I would hate to lose any one of them."

"The day may come Frank when we do lose one of them. Permanently. Are you going to be able to deal with that ?" asked Stark. "I don't think I could." With this he turned and walked away.

Frank stood in the hospital corridor for a few minutes. His face looked haunted. He ran his hands over his face and took a long, deep breath. He went back into Oscar's bedroom. Frank stood and watched the sleeping boy for several minutes, then turned and left.

THE END.


End file.
